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pig iron

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noun
  1. iron tapped from a blast furnace and cast into pigs in preparation for conversion into steel, cast iron, or wrought iron.
  2. iron in the chemical state in which it exists when tapped from the blast furnace, without alloying or refinement.
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Origin of pig iron

First recorded in 1655–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pig iron

Historical Examples

  • If ye say no too early he'll be on t'ye like a ton o' pig-iron.

    The Making Of A Novelist

    David Christie Murray

  • The ship was laden with pig-iron, but she rolled and rolled and rolled.

  • We supply the North and East with pig-iron, machinery, God knows what.

    The Ghost Girl

    H. De Vere Stacpoole

  • The pig-iron was mostly amidships, or at least forward of this compartment.

    A Chosen Few

    Frank R. Stockton

  • Its better fun diving after pig-iron than after mussel-shells, isnt it?

    The Last of the Flatboats

    George Cary Eggleston

British Dictionary definitions for pig iron

pig iron

noun
  1. crude iron produced in a blast furnace and poured into moulds in preparation for making wrought iron, steels, alloys, etc
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pig iron

n.

1660s; see pig (n.) + iron (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper