Definition of "iron"

iron

/ˈaɪ.ən/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural irons
1. (uncountable) A 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.
2. (uncountable, countable, metallurgy) Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.
3. (countable) A 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.
4. (usually in the plural, irons) Shackles.
5. (slang) A firearm, either a long gun or a handgun.
  Quotations
  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 (lyrics and music), “Big Iron”
6. (uncountable) A dark shade of the color silver.
7. (countable, Cockney rhyming slang, offensive, shortened from iron hoof, rhyming with poof) A male homosexual.
8. (golf) A golf club used for middle-distance shots.
  Quotations
  The brassey much resembled the driver, but the iron opened out quite a new field of practice; […]
  1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major
9. (uncountable, figurative) Used as a symbol of great strength or toughness, or to signify a very strong or tough material.
10. (weightlifting) Weight used as resistance for the purpose of strength training.
11. (countable, astronomy, geology) A meteorite consisting primarily of metallic iron (mixed with a small amount of nickel), as opposed to one composed mainly of stony material.
12. A safety curtain in a theatre.
13. (military, slang) Dumb bombs, those without guidance systems.
adjective
not comparable
1. (not comparable) Made of the metal iron.
2. (figuratively) Strong (as of will), inflexible.
  Quotations
  […] 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, […], page 201
  The faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no hope from the gods.
  1905, [Edward Plunkett,] Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegāna‎, London: Elkin Mathews, […], page 64
  And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.
  1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy
  But in her speech, Truss said she would exert an “iron discipline” over public spending, hinting at possible austerity to come. “I believe in sound money and a lean state,” she said.
  2022 October 5, Rowena Mason, quoting Liz Truss, “Liz Truss promises ‘growth, growth and growth’ in protest-hit speech”, in The Guardian‎
verb
third-person singular simple present irons, present participle ironing, simple past and past participle ironed
1. (transitive) To pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.
  Quotations
  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
2. (intransitive) To engage in such pressing of clothing.
3. (transitive, archaic) To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.
  Quotations
  [...] 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. (transitive) To furnish, clad, or arm with iron.