andiron

American  

[and-ahy-ern] / ˈændˌaɪ ərn /

noun

1. one of a pair of metal stands, usually of iron or brass, for holding logs in a fireplace.

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andiron British  

/ ˈændˌaɪən /

noun

1. another name for firedog

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Regionalisms

See dog iron, firedog.

Etymology

Origin of andiron

1250–1300; Middle English aundyr ( n ) e, Anglo-French aundyre, with the 2nd syllable taken as Middle English ire, iren iron < Old French andier, allegedly < Gaulish *anderos young animal (through known use of animals’ heads as decorations on andirons), though supposed relation between this word and Middle Welsh anneir, Breton annoer heifer, Old Irish ainder young woman, poses serious phonetic problems

Example Sentences

On display in Manhattan's Robinson Galleries last week went a Wheelock retrospective show that started with the dachshund andiron, ended in 1940 with a crisp, stylized figure of Washington at Valley Forge.

From Time Magazine Archive

She falls, strikes her head against a fraternity andiron.

From Time Magazine Archive

The illustration shows an interesting feature in the use of a primitive andiron or boss to support the cooking pot in position above the fire.

From A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228 by Nichols, Henry Hobart

I stayed down stairs, and, to kind o' break up my sorrer, I chucked my head aginst the knob that was atop o' the andiron!

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 121, November, 1867 by Various

Dom La Taste, the great opponent of Jansenism, alluding to the same circumstance, says, "I do not dispute the fact, that the andiron sunk so deeply that it appeared to penetrate to the very backbone."

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 76, February, 1864 by Various