pot metal

American  

noun

1. an alloy of copper and lead, formerly used for making plumbing fixtures, bearings, etc.

2. cast iron of a quality suitable for making pots.

3. a low-grade nonferrous alloy used for die casting.

4. Glassmaking. antique glass.

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Etymology

Origin of pot metal

First recorded in 1685–95

Example Sentences

It’s unclear where the five-foot, pot metal sphinx statue came from.

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2022

“The vast majority of parts — tubes, resistors, capacitors — are easily found. It’s things like pot metal switches, shafts, clutches for changing from AM/FM that give me fits.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 13, 2015

From this excursion, however, the traveller brings back little information which might not have been had upon earth, excepting that the inhabitants of one of the planets, I forget which, were made of "pot metal."

From Moon Lore by Harley, Timothy

Their architectural portion is of a strong brassy yellow, that colour being provided by pot metal glass leaded in.

From Stained Glass Tours in England by Sherrill, Charles Hitchcock

There were no lightning-rod agents to inveigle him into putting $100 worth of pot metal corkscrews on a $15 barn.

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 01 by Brann, William Cowper