ingot
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of ingot
1350–1400; Middle English: literally, (something) poured in, equivalent to in- in- 1 + got ( e ) a stream, Old English *gota, akin to gēotan to flow; cognate with German giessen, Gothic giutan, Old Norse gjōta to pour
Explanation
A processed piece of fine metal is an ingot. If you find a buried treasure chest, cross your fingers that it's full of gold ingots! When ingot was originally used in the 1500s, it meant "mold in which metal is cast." To make an ingot, metal is melted and poured into such a mold, where it hardens into a bar. Ingots are used to make metal easy to transport, store, and measure — and sometimes to be directly traded for money, particularly in the case of gold.
Vocabulary lists containing ingot
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Gold Rush: Mining and Metals
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The Joy Luck Club
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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.
A complete plano-convex ingot has been uncovered in Sweden for the first time.
From Science Daily • Nov. 23, 2025
A thin wire is dipped into the mix and rotated for about three days, forming a polysilicon cylinder known as an ingot.
From Barron's • Nov. 7, 2025
The hoard also included a Ninth Century gold ring, a crystal rock pendant, a dragon's head bracelet and an ingot.
From BBC • May 22, 2025
The presence of a usable ingot seemed unlikely, and if true, downright alchemic.
From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2024
A gold ingot in the tines of a scallop rake.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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.
