gunmetaln.
1. A bronze formerly much used for cannon; (subsequently) a common term for alloys of copper and tin (or zinc).
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > alloy > [noun] > bronze > types of
gunmetal1541
white bronze1834
findrinny1839
phosphor-bronze1875
plastic bronze1897
sentoku1902
lead bronze1937
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 7 §1 No person..should..conuey anie brasse..laten, bell metall, gun metall, ne shroffe metal into..partes beyonde the sea.
1693 T. Povey in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 17 736 About 20l. of Lead is usually put into 100l. of Pot-metal; but about 6l. is sufficient to put into 100l. of Gun-metal.
1784 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations (ed. 3) II. iv. viii. 508 The exportation of unmanufactured brass, of what is called gun-metal, bell-metal, and shroff-metal, still continues to be prohibited.
1824 T. Tredgold Pract. Ess. Strength of Cast Iron 114 A cast bar of the alloy of copper and tin commonly called gunmetal.
1854 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc., Chem. 492 Gun-metal is an alloy of eleven parts tin and one hundred of copper.
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 61 Gun metal, technically so called, is a compound of copper and tin, in the proportion of five, eight, and ten pounds of the latter to 100 pounds of the former.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 144 s.v. Aich's metal and some other gun-metals contain zinc and iron but no tin.
1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing (1892) 80 Alloys consisting of copper and tin are called bronze or gun-metal.
2. A colour resembling that of gunmetal, a dull bluish-grey.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > bluish grey
blue-grey1478
slate-grey1794
slate-colour1799
slate1813
gunmetal1905
battleship grey1916
1905 Daily Chron. 12 July 6/7 Gun-metal coloured taffeta.
1923 Daily Mail 8 Oct. 1/2 In Gun Metal, Shoe Grey and Black.
1931 Daily Tel. 21 May 6/3 A train of gun-metal chiffon.
1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Aeneid ii. 42 Its angrily-rearing head, its gun-metal neck.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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