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.

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bell metal British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of bell metal

First recorded in 1535–45

Example Sentences

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

Copper is also used in alloys with other metals, forming an important part of brass, bronze, german silver, bell metal and gun metal.

From Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting Electric, Forge and Thermit Welding together with related methods and materials used in metal working and the oxygen process for removal of carbon by Manly, Harold P. (Harold Phillips)

The sombre bell metal was slick as if oiled and absorbed light without refracting it.

From Là-bas by Wallace, Keene

The wheel a b c in the drawings is made of bell metal, and turns in a socket under the stand, which prevents the wheel from sliding from the supporting or friction rolls z, z.

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

Women of the milkman caste wear bangles of bell metal, often up to the elbow.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham