bell metal

American  

noun

1. an alloy of about 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin, sometimes with small amounts of lead and zinc, having low damping qualities and used especially for bells.

---

bell metal British  

noun

1. an alloy of copper and tin, with some zinc and lead, used in casting bells

---

Etymology

Origin of bell metal

First recorded in 1535–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bell metal

Varying proportions of copper and tin give gun metal, bell metal, babbitt metal and many another alloy, the greater the percentage of tin the harder being the resulting composition.

From Time Magazine Archive

The preserving pan should be made of bell metal, flat at the bottom, very large in diameter, but not deep.

From The Virginia Housewife by Randolph, Mary

Now the bell metal rusts scarcely at all, but the iron clapper of a bell does.

From Jack Ranger's Western Trip Or, from Boarding School to Ranch and Range by Young, Clarence

The dishes, of bell metal, were placed on the table, and we took our places.

From Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Verne, Jules

In the harder kinds of brass, such as that termed gun metal, composition, or bell metal, the cuttings will fly off the tool in short angular grains, such as indicated in Fig.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua