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type metal

noun
  1. an alloy for making printing types, consisting chiefly of lead and antimony, and sometimes small quantities of tin, copper, etc.
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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
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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