Met"al , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Metaled (? or ?) or Metalled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Metaling or Metalling.]
To cover with
metal; as, to metal a ship's bottom; to metal a road.
Met"al (? or ?; 277), n. [F. métal, L. metallum metal, mine, Gr. &?; mine; cf. Gr. &?; to search after. Cf. Mettle, Medal.]
1. (Chem.) An elementary substance,
as sodium, calcium, or copper, whose oxide or hydroxide has basic rather than acid properties, as contrasted with the nonmetals, or metalloids. No sharp line
can be drawn between the metals and nonmetals, and certain elements partake of both acid and
basic qualities, as chromium, manganese, bismuth, etc.
&fist; Popularly, the name is
applied to certain hard, fusible metals, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, nickel, etc., and also to the mixed metals, or metallic alloys, as brass, bronze, steel, bell metal, etc.
2. Ore from which a metal
is derived; -- so called by miners. Raymond.
3.
A mine from which ores are taken. [Obs.]
Slaves . . . and persons condemned to
metals.
Jer. Taylor. 4.
The substance of which anything is made; material; hence, constitutional
disposition; character; temper.
Not till God
make men of
some other metal than earth.
Shak.
5. Courage; spirit; mettle. See Mettle.
Shak.
&fist; The
allusion is to the temper
of the metal of a sword blade. Skeat.
6. The broken stone used in macadamizing roads and ballasting railroads.
7. The effective power or caliber of
guns carried by a vessel of war.
8. Glass in a state of fusion. Knight.
9. pl.
The rails of a railroad. [Eng.]
Base metal
(Chem.), any one of the metals, as
iron, lead, etc., which are readily tarnished or oxidized, in contrast with the noble metals. In general, a metal of small value, as compared with gold or silver. -- Fusible metal (Metal.),
a very fusible alloy, usually
consisting of bismuth with lead, tin, or cadmium. -- Heavy
metals (Chem.), the metallic elements not included in the groups of the alkalies, alkaline earths,
or the earths; specifically, the heavy metals, as gold, mercury, platinum, lead, silver, etc. -- Light
metals (Chem.), the metallic elements of the alkali and alkaline earth groups, as sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, etc.;
also, sometimes, the metals of the earths, as aluminium. -- Muntz metal, an alloy for sheathing and other purposes, consisting of about sixty per cent of copper, and forty of zinc. Sometimes a little lead
is added. It is
named from the inventor. -- Prince's metal (Old Chem.),
an alloy resembling brass, consisting of three parts of copper to one
of zinc; -- also called Prince Rupert's metal.
Hear it pronounced