running iron

noun

A branding iron which is not bent into the shape of the mark but rather requires the user to write the desired brand (and thus allows writing any brand).

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Meanings

nounrunning iron (plural running irons)

plural running irons

  1. A branding iron which is not bent into the shape of the mark but rather requires the user to write the desired brand (and thus allows writing any brand).

    So flagrantly did these gentlemen miswield the “running iron,” that several States eventually forbade its use by anybody, and everywhere its mere possession gave rise to suspicion.

    2007, Philip Ashton Rollins, The Cowboy, page 183
Cite this entry
APA

running iron. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/running%20iron

MLA

“running iron.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/running%20iron. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “running iron,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/running%20iron.

Source: running iron on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.