From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishironi‧ron1 /ˈaɪən $ ˈaɪərn/ ●●● S2 W3 noun 1 metal [uncountable]HCET a common hard metal that is used to make steel, is magnetic, and is found in very small quantities in food and blood. It is a chemical element: symbol Fe the iron and steel industry a driveway with large iron gates iron ore (=rock that contains iron) the absorption of iron from food → wrought iron, cast iron2 for clothes [countable]DCCT a thing used for making clothes smooth, which has a heated flat metal base3 → have several irons in the fire4 sport [countable]DSG a golf club made of metal rather than wood a 5-iron5 → irons → a will of iron/an iron will at will2(1), → pump iron at pump2(8), → rule somebody/something with a rod of iron at rule2(5), → strike while the iron’s hot at strike1(28)
Examples from the Corpus
iron• iron ore• He kept her prisoner in her own home and threatened to electrocute her on a sunbed and burn her with an iron.• Start with a five-hundred pound piece of cast iron sitting on the floor.• Prohibited items should include gallows and leg irons.• My doctor said I need more iron in my diet.• a window with iron bars on itiron ore• The iron and steel industry of Rotherham exists because long ago iron ore was mined locally as well as coal.• It soon ventured into steelmaking to use its coal and iron ore.• The manganese and iron ores of the Urals were linked to great coalfields 1,250 miles further east.• This applies to, for example, gold, petroleum, copper, iron ore, lead, silver, nickel and zinc.• These ironworks were built in 173 6 and were worked for 130 years, exploiting local iron ore deposits.• The greater abundance of iron ores over those of copper also meant that iron was more readily obtainable and cheaper.• Here there are thick deposits of iron ore near the base of some rocks of oolitic limestone which are of Jurassic age.• When the iron ore was worked out the township including the school would pack up and move on.ironiron2 ●●● S3 verb [transitive] DCCTto make clothes smooth using an iron SYN press Have you ironed my shirt? → ironing → iron something ↔ out→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
iron• I need to iron a few shirts for my trip.• But he conceded that there were some kinks to iron out.• The finer details of the proposals from Environment Secretary Michael Heseltine still have to be ironed out.• She ironed their tiny strips of white embroidered cuffs and collars herself, and sewed them on fresh nearly every day.ironiron3 adjective [only before noun] DETERMINEDvery firm and strong or determined He runs the company with an iron fist.Examples from the Corpus
iron• He lay on his narrow iron bed, whose cheap cotton slip was decorated with repeated figures of Donald Duck.• New Labour is itself a product of the iron cage.• iron discipline• But he offered not only an iron fist to Hanoi there was a velvet glove also.• Those that had iron gratings locked them across the plate glass.• She went quickly; by afternoon, she was in the iron lung and she died the next morning.• This is a fast-paced, heartwarming story of a huge iron man who emerges from the sea to terrify the neighborhood.• The addition of iron oxide produced a darker brown colour in the glaze under reducing conditions.• This is because the center of gravity of the hammer is in the iron part.iron fist• Ace swung round, her gauntlets curled into iron fists.• The protuberance under her fingers felt soft and hard at the same time, an iron fist in a velvet glove.• Nowadays we need the iron fist of policing in order that we might sleep soundly in our beds.• But he offered not only an iron fist to Hanoi there was a velvet glove also.Origin iron1 Old English isern, iren 