base metal
Americannoun
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any metal other than a precious or noble metal, as copper, lead, zinc, or tin.
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the principal metal of an alloy.
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the principal metal of a piece underlying a coating of another metal; core.
noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The base metal had risen to around $3,500 a metric ton after news of Middle Eastern smelters shutting, the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
You can call cobalt a base metal, or stick it with uranium in special metals.
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
Pairing these metal oxides with a conductive carbon network improves electron movement and prevents the particles from clumping together, which is a frequent issue in conventional base metal catalysts.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2025
The copper producer rose along with prices for the base metal.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
We know he was engaged in a lengthy search for the secret of how to turn base metal into gold; indeed, briefly in the 1580s, he thought he had found it.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
