copper
1 Americannoun
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a malleable, ductile, metallic element having a characteristic reddish-brown color: used in large quantities as an electrical conductor and in the manufacture of alloys, as brass and bronze. Cu; 63.54; 29; 8.92 at 20°C.
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a metallic reddish brown.
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a coin composed of copper, bronze, or the like, as the U.S. cent or the British penny.
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any of several butterflies of the family Lycaenidae, as Lycaena hypophleas American copper, having copper-colored wings spotted and edged with black.
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a container made of copper.
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a tool partly or wholly made of copper.
a soldering copper.
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British. a large kettle, now usually made of iron, used for cooking or to boil laundry.
adjective
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made of copper.
copper kettles.
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reddish-brown; coppery.
The copper sun sank into the sea.
verb (used with object)
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to cover, coat, or sheathe with copper.
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Informal. hedge.
noun
noun
noun
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a malleable ductile reddish metallic element occurring as the free metal, copper glance, and copper pyrites: used as an electrical and thermal conductor and in such alloys as brass and bronze. Symbol: Cu; atomic no: 29; atomic wt: 63.546; valency: 1 or 2; relative density: 8.96; melting pt: 1084.87±+0.2°C; boiling pt: 2563°C
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( as modifier )
a copper coin
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the reddish-brown colour of copper
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( as adjective )
copper hair
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informal any copper or bronze coin
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a large vessel, formerly of copper, used for boiling or washing
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any of various small widely distributed butterflies of the genera Lycaena, Heodes, etc, typically having reddish-brown wings: family Lycaenidae
verb
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A reddish-brown, ductile, malleable metallic element that is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. It is widely used for electrical wires, water pipes, and rust-resistant parts, either in its pure form or in alloys such as brass and bronze. Atomic number 29; atomic weight 63.546; melting point 1,083°C; boiling point 2,595°C; specific gravity 8.96; valence 1, 2.
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See Periodic Table See Note at element
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coppersimple
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copperssimple
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have copperedperfect
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has copperedperfect
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am copperingprogressive
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are copperingprogressive
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is copperingprogressive
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have been copperingperfect progressive
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has been copperingperfect progressive
Past
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copperedsimple
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had copperedperfect
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was copperingprogressive
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were copperingprogressive
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had been copperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of copper1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English coper, copper, Old English coper, copor (cognate with Old Norse koparr, German Kupfer ), from Late Latin cuprum, for Latin ( aes ) Cyprium “(metal) from Cyprus”
Origin of copper2
Explanation
Copper is a reddish-gold colored metal that's commonly used in electrical wires and plumbing. Your grandmother might make her famous chocolate caramel sauce in a shiny copper pot. Before 1983, pennies were 95 percent copper. Today, they're almost entirely zinc (a less expensive metal), coated with a thin copper plating. They look the same, but the older coins are quite a bit heavier. Copper is a good conductor of heat and electricity, which is why it's used for both fancy cookware and wires. You can also use copper for things that have a similar color: "His copper curls make him stand out from the other choir members."
Vocabulary lists containing copper
Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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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.
See Examples For:
The shift from copper to optical scale-up offers a tailwind as well, Weeks says, where a fully optical setup translates to “160 fibers per GPU, which is ten times the amount” of current scale-out networks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“That’s a lot of copper, steel, aluminum, and lithium.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The rooftop thefts are a newer trend in the Pasadena area and have amounted to more damage than what the copper material is worth, Cuellar said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
By the researcher's calculations, that figure is seven to 165 tons of carbon dioxide per ton of copper produced, depending on the sulfide content of the metal ore and local geologic conditions.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Necklaces of shiny beads, copper, and tiny, beautiful shells go scattering over the ground.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Mette, who has been with the department for 18 years, told "young coppers" they have a "long way to go."
From Fox News ● Oct. 21, 2021
“You want to say ‘I know all these coppers, I know all these things?’
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2020
“You want to say `I know all these coppers, I know all these things?’
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2020
There do exist bent coppers as the saying goes.
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2018
“Aye, because I forgot my coppers yesterday. But I’m glad I did, because it made me think. Now listen to me.”
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Within the last month Alsop coppered the Longworth bet by wagering heavily on Ike to run.
From Time Magazine Archive
But by 1783 ships of every class were coppered.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
She was coppered to the bends, was painted black to her rails, with the exception of a broad red ribbon round her, and was pierced for eighteen guns.
From A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron by Hodgson, Edward S.
During action this becomes coppered, while in contact with the sulphate of copper, but it is not attacked by the acid.
From Electric Bells and All About Them A Practical Book for Practical Men by Bottone, S. R.
He was a man of powerful physique, his skin deep coppered by long exposure to prairie winds and sun.
From Deep Furrows by Moorhouse, Hopkins
Clampett & Co. expect to get richer still on royalties, and are coppering their bet by making a round-the-world tour, beating bandits and fattening the market for their book.
From Time Magazine Archive
Naturally I'd been prejudiced against him not only by his mother's praise but by his father's steady coppering of the same.
From Somewhere in Red Gap by Wilson, Harry Leon
It seems they sing, Even though coppering is not an easy thing.
From Men, Women and Ghosts by Lowell, Amy
Not that you have not played your game well enough, but there never was a game played so well that some other fellow could not win by coppering it.
From 54-40 or Fight by Hough, Emerson
Every thing necessary for repairing a vessel appeared to be on hand, and Mr. C. was then engaged in coppering the one on his dock.
From Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas by Macaulay, W. Hastings
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.
