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# metal

«metal» in Mova's school dictionary: **a hard, shiny material like iron, steel, gold, silver…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (metal, metals); adjective (metal)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Metal is a hard, shiny material like iron, steel, gold, silver, copper or aluminium. Coins, nails and keys are made of metal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#m1)

2) Metal also means made of metal: a metal spoon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In maths: a material; things made of metal are counted or weighed; it can split things into groups to add or compare. In science: most metals conduct heat and electricity, and iron is attracted by a magnet (but not all metals are). Safety: metal pots and spoons get hot; never put metal in a microwave or into a socket. Phrases: made of metal, metal detector, heavy metal, scrap metal.

### examples

- The box holds 20 metal spoons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x1)
- A metal bar weighs 3 kg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x2)
- She sorted 15 metal and 9 plastic toys. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x3)
- Each metal coin is worth 5 cents. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x4)
- Gold and silver are precious metals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x5)
- A metal spoon in hot soup gets hot quickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x6)
- A magnet picks up iron nails but not aluminium cans. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x7)
- We put metal cans in the recycling bin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x8)
- Not a tinkling of a metal fringe broke the silence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/#x9)

### note

Homophone: «medal» (a prize) sounds almost the same. Uncountable for the material (made of metal), countable for kinds (gold and silver are metals). Describes the material; no clue to the operation. It can split things into groups to add or compare. Myth: not all metals stick to magnets.

### In the corpora

- [Builders in Hong Kong still use bamboo scaffolding tied with plastic strips, though more and more metal scaffolding is used there too.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/380-china-s-plants-bamboo-ginkgo-lotus-tea-and-rice-paddies/11/)
- [Looks as if it was made by a sharp edge of something in metal.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/36-willows-ch3-part4-the-door-scraper/18/)
- [The Rat's chain: a clean metal cut → a door-scraper → a door-mat → a door.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/36-willows-ch3-part4-the-door-scraper/35/)
- [Pencil "lead" is graphite, a kind of carbon, mixed with clay; it contains no lead metal.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/1-what-is-everything-made-of/8/)
- [Most drink cans are aluminium, a light metal protected by a thin invisible layer that stops it wearing away.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/2-elements-and-the-periodic-table/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «metal» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metal/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.