Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

type metal

See more synonyms for type metal on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an alloy for making printing types, consisting chiefly of lead and antimony, and sometimes small quantities of tin, copper, etc.
Show More

Origin of type metal

First recorded in 1790–1800
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for type metal

Historical Examples

  • This shell is backed with type-metal and is then ready for use.

    What Philately Teaches

    John N. Luff

  • Type-metal is an alloy of lead with antimony and tin, to which occasionally a small quantity of copper or zinc is added.

  • With a result not very different was the application of antimony in the composition of printer's type-metal.

  • Having been sent to the casting-room, the types are slightly oiled, and surrounded with a frame of brass or type-metal.

  • The type-metal is prepared for immediate use by melting it, as fast as it may be needed, in a small crucible, over a coal fire.

British Dictionary definitions for type metal

type metal

noun
  1. printing an alloy of tin, lead, and antimony, from which type is cast
Show More
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