iron

plural irons

1. uncountableA common, inexpensive metal, silvery grey when untarnished, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel: a chemical element having atomic number 26 and symbol Fe.

   Today we studied about metals — including iron — at school.

   1 more example

   They gather one by one, trickling into the shady courtyard, the familiar hum of Mass. Ave. wafting in from behind brick buildings and iron gates.

   2005 June 9, Michael M. Grynbaum, “An Entryway That Eats Together Stays Together”, in The Harvard Crimson, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025

   Synonyms: ferrum

2. countableuncountableengineeringAny material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.
3. countableA tool or appliance made of metal, which is heated and then used to transfer heat to something else; most often a thick piece of metal fitted with a handle and having a flat, roughly triangular bottom, which is heated and used to press wrinkles from clothing, and now usually containing an electrical heating apparatus.

   Synonyms: clothes iron, flatiron, smoothing iron

4. countableuncountableAny of several other tools traditionally made of wrought iron, now usually of steel.
5. countableplural normallyuncountableironsShackles.
6. countableslanguncountableA firearm, either a long gun or a handgun.

   It's many niggas now totin' iron.

   2 more examples

   Ah, throw that old iron over here! We'll pick it up and go on our way.

   1948, John Huston, Treasure of the Sierra Madre

   the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip

   1959, Marty Robbins, “Big Iron”

   Synonyms: shooting iron

7. uncountableA dark shade of the color silver.
8. Cockneycountableoffensiveslangshortened from iron hoof; rhyming with poof; shortened from iron hoof; rhyming with poofA male homosexual.

   Synonyms: poof, queer

9. countableuncountablegolfA golf club used for middle-distance shots.

   The brassey much resembled the driver, but the iron opened out quite a new field of practice; […]

   1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major

10. figurativelyuncountableUsed as a symbol of great strength or toughness, or to signify a very strong or tough material.

    ironman; a will of iron

    2 more examples

    He appeared easygoing, but inside he was pure iron.

    Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him, or give it up. This is not a game of cards — this is your life and mine!

    1980 December 19, PAP election rally at Fullerton Square, spoken by Lee Kuan Yew

11. countableuncountablehobbiesWeight used as resistance for the purpose of strength training.

    He lifts iron on the weekends.

    1 more example

    I wanted Beauty, and what Nature had failed to supply, Iron would.

    1986, Paul Reed, “Serenity”, in Eric E. Rofes, editor, Gay Life: Leisure, Love, and Living for the Contemporary Gay Male, page 10

12. countableastronomyA meteorite consisting primarily of metallic iron (mixed with a small amount of nickel), as opposed to one composed mainly of stony material.

    Irons and stony irons can be much larger than stony meteorites and are much more visually striking, but make up only a few percent of all meteorites.

13. countableuncountableA safety curtain in a theatre.
14. countableslanguncountablegovernmentA dumb bomb, one without guidance systems.

1. not comparableMade of the metal iron.
2. figurativelynot comparableStrong (as of will), inflexible.

   Iron men

   5 more examples

   She had an iron will.

   He held on with an iron grip.

   an iron constitution

   […]the fruit-garden, where every tree and walk had a remembrance—those iron links of affection.

   1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 201

   The faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no hope from the gods.

   1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 64

   Synonyms: adamant, adamantine, brassbound

present singular third person irons · participle present ironing · participle past ironed · past ironed

1. transitiveTo pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.

   You'd be wise to iron that shirt before you wear it.

   2 more examples

   Out of that tub had come the day before - Tess felt it with a dreadful sting of remorse - the very white frock upon her back which she had so carelessly greened about the skirt on the damping grass - which had been wrung up and ironed by her mother's own hands.

   1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 30

   Kathy and I discovered that you can iron your hair straight.

   1965 February 10, Lou Sullivan, Diary

   Synonyms: press

2. intransitiveTo engage in such pressing of clothing.

   They were washing and ironing all morning.

3. archaictransitiveTo shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.

   [...] is it he who is ironed like a malefactor—who is to be dragged on a hurdle to the common gallows—to die a lingering and cruel death, and to be mangled by the hand of the most outcast of wretches?

   1814, Walter Scott, Waverley

4. transitiveTo furnish, clad, or arm with iron.

   to iron a wagon

1. The 57th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

1. A group of Ossetians of the northern Caucasus who speak the Iron Ossetian dialect.

1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the Iron people.