noble metal

American  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of noble metal

1350–1400; Middle English: precious metal

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

noble metal

"It thus offers a powerful and sustainable alternative to the noble metal complexes that have long dominated light-driven chemistry."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2025

Such strong cultural affinity for physical gold, particularly jewellery, means the appetite for the noble metal is unlikely to be dented in the long term, despite the short-term moderation, say experts.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025

Mixing the magnetic metal nickel with the noble metal gold radically changes the electronic properties.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2023

The process won't inspire a new gold rush, because scaling it up would be both prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, but it does have implications for the creation, detection and processing of this noble metal.

From Nature ● Mar. 13, 2013

But now, at the first and yet final trial, she is proved and found to be of noble metal.

From An Introduction to the Study of Browning by Symons, Arthur