noble metal

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noun

any of a number of metals, as gold, silver, mercury, or platinum, that resist oxidation when heated in air, and solution by inorganic acids.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of noble metal

1350–1400; Middle English: precious metal

A natural alloy of gold containing 20 per cent silver, termed electrum, is the lowest grade of the noble metal.
Getting Gold|J. C. F. Johnson
It is well said; but the last letter to Frank Scott is scarcely 210 of a noble metal.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume 9|Robert Louis Stevenson
There was a noble metal collar—about thirty-two, the size would have been, on the usual scale.
The Strand Magazine, Volume VII, Issue 40, April, 1894|Various
But now, at the first and yet final trial, she is proved and found to be of noble metal.
An Introduction to the Study of Browning|Arthur Symons

It is well said; but the last letter to Frank Scott is scarcely of a noble metal.
Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin|Robert Louis Stevenson