Chemistry. a white, ductile metallic element, used for making mirrors, coins, ornaments, table utensils, photographic chemicals, conductors, etc. Ag; 107.870; 47; 10.5 at 20°C.
coin made of this metal; specie; money.
a handful of silver.
this metal as a commodity or considered as a currency standard.
table articles made of or plated with silver, including flatware and hollowware.
any flatware.
The kitchen silver is of stainless steel.
something resembling this metal in color, luster, etc.
a lustrous grayish white or whitish gray, or the color of the metal.
the silver of the leaves.
any of the silver halides used for photographic purposes, as silver bromide, silver chloride, or silver iodide.
consisting of, made of, or plated with silver.
of or relating to silver.
producing or yielding silver.
resembling silver; silvery.
the silver moon.
clear and soft.
silver sounds.
eloquent; persuasive.
a silver tongue.
urging the use of silver as a currency standard.
silver economists.
indicating the twenty-fifth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.
having the color silver.
a silver dress.
to coat with silver or some silverlike substance.
to give a silvery color to.
a very ductile malleable brilliant greyish-white element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal. It occurs free and in argentite and other ores: used in jewellery, tableware, coinage, electrical contacts, and in electroplating. Its compounds are used in photography. Symbol: Ag; atomic no: 47; atomic wt: 107.8682; valency: 1 or 2; relative density: 10.50; melting pt: 961.93°C; boiling pt: 2163°C
( as modifier )
a silver coin
coin made of, or having the appearance of, this metal
cutlery, whether made of silver or not
any household articles made of silver
photog any of a number of silver compounds used either as photosensitive substances in emulsions or as sensitizers
a brilliant or light greyish-white colour
( as adjective )
silver hair
short for silver medal
well-articulated
silver speech
(prenominal) denoting the 25th in a series, esp an annual series
a silver wedding anniversary
(tr) to coat with silver or a silvery substance
to silver a spoon
to become or cause to become silvery in colour
to become or cause to become elderly
A soft, shiny, white metallic element that is found in many ores, especially together with copper, lead, and zinc. It conducts heat and electricity better than any other metal. Silver is used in photography and in making electrical circuits and conductors. Atomic number 47; atomic weight 107.868; melting point 960.8°C; boiling point 2,212°C; specific gravity 10.50; valence 1, 2.
See also sterling silver See Periodic Table See Note at element
First recorded before 900; Middle English (noun and adjective) silver(e), selver(e), selfer, Old English siolfor (originally a noun); cognate with German Silber, Old Norse silfr, Gothic silubr, akin to Serbo-Croatian srèbro, Russian serebró, Lithuanian sidãbras
The shiny precious metal that's used for jewelry, spoons and forks, and fancy candlesticks is silver. You can also use the word silver to describe things that are the same color as silver. There are silver bracelets and silver coins, but also silver hair and a silver sky. The element known to scientists as Ag, or silver, is rare and valuable, and was once used to make money. Today many coins are silver in color, but they're usually made of nickel and copper. If you believe that every terrible event has a hopeful or encouraging aspect to it, you might say, "Every cloud has a silver lining."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nowacki beat him to silver on Saturday and begins Wednesday's 200m event as favourite.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Find insight on gold and silver prices, palm oil, Air Liquide and more in the latest Market Talks covering Basic Materials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Gold settled up 0.5% Friday, and silver rose 1.5%, with both metals also posting gains for the week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I’ll wear a baby cup as jewelry,” she says, picking up a small silver cup from a cabinet to show her point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Sitting cross-legged on the stall’s hay-covered floor, I pull the silver harmonica from my pocket.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Bestselling author and famed election and sports projection-model creator Nate Silver reposted the poll on Friday, writing: “This is what’s wrong with Britain.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Silver production fared worse, falling nearly 13% on year to 10.9 million ounces due to a combination of lower grades and a decrease in processed volumes, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Messi won the Silver Ball as the second-best player, with Mbappe named Bronze Ball winner.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Silver said his “timeline remains this summer” to make his findings known after high-powered New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz wraps up its investigation and presents the findings to the NBA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
August stares at Silver Star and exhales through puffed cheeks.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Golds, silvers and bronzes won in Para-events will, unlike with other multi-sport events, count towards the overall medal total.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
She’d racked up three silvers and two bronzes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
"This is really the last time," said Sakamoto, who won singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Games and has two silvers in the team event.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
Knight, who powered the United States into Monday’s Olympic semifinal, is one of the most accomplished female hockey players in the world: an Olympic gold medal, three Olympic silvers and 10 world championship medals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
This lot, half o’ them would turn you over to the queen quick as spit for a pardon and maybe a few silvers.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
A little silvered glass could be worth its weight in gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
At 50, still in the blush of youth by today’s silvered political standards, Porter has plenty of highway ahead of her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2024
Ms Quinn said: "Daguerre developed a way of taking pictures using a polished silvered plate and a camera. This produced a single image printed directly onto a plate with astonishing clarity, named the daguerreotype."
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2024
Seventeen years after the Tripod fire, the silvered trunks of dead trees still stand on many slopes.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
I draw myself up and look into the silvered gray of his eyes.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Screen Goo is highly pigmented and has a little silvering in the paint that reflects light back at lots of different angles.
From The Verge ● Feb. 24, 2020
A thickset Catholic businessman with silvering hair and bloodshot eyes, he was wearing a loose denim shirt.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 4, 2016
With his planed features and silvering hair, Mr. van Hove is perfectly nice to look at.
From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2015
Explain the functions of the various parts, such as the vacuum, the silvering of the walls, the thin-walled long glass neck, the rubber support, the air layer, and the stopper.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
"Tristran?" asked his father, who at five and thirty was still middling tall and still freckled, although there were more than a few silvering hairs in his nut-brown curls.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
