bell metal

American  

noun

1. an alloy of about 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin, sometimes with small amounts of lead and zinc, having low damping qualities and used especially for bells.

---

bell metal British  

noun

1. an alloy of copper and tin, with some zinc and lead, used in casting bells

---

Etymology

Origin of bell metal

First recorded in 1535–45

Example Sentences

Varying proportions of copper and tin give gun metal, bell metal, babbitt metal and many another alloy, the greater the percentage of tin the harder being the resulting composition.

From Time Magazine Archive

Salt a pint meal, wet with one quart milk, sweeten and put into a strong cloth, brass or bell metal vessel, stone or earthern pot, secure from wet and boil 12 hours.

From American Cookery The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry, and Vegetables by Simmons, Amelia

But he made them his own by smelting the rough ore into bell metal.

From Byron by Nichol, John

Now the bell metal rusts scarcely at all, but the iron clapper of a bell does.

From Jack Ranger's Western Trip Or, from Boarding School to Ranch and Range by Young, Clarence

Women of the milkman caste wear bangles of bell metal, often up to the elbow.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham