iron

«iron» in Mova's school dictionary: a strong, hard, grey metal used to make steel, tools… — 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 (iron, uncountable as the metal; an iron, irons as the tool); verb (iron, irons, ironed, ironing); adjective (an iron gate)

meaning for a pupil

1) Iron is a strong, hard, grey metal used to make steel, tools, gates and railings. tree →

2) An iron is a household tool with a flat hot bottom that you press on clothes to make them smooth. tree →

3) To iron clothes is to make them smooth with an iron. tree →

4) Iron is also a mineral your body needs in its blood, found in foods like spinach, red meat and beans. tree →

5) Iron can also describe something very strong, hard or cruel, like an iron grip. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, iron is a chemical element (symbol Fe); it is magnetic, and it rusts when wet and in air. Magnets attract iron. In health lessons, iron helps blood carry oxygen. At home, a hot iron can burn: never touch the flat part and unplug it after use. Phrases: iron out (solve problems), an iron will, the Iron Age, cast iron.

examples

• Magnets pick up iron nails. tree →
• The gate is made of iron. tree →
• Mum irons my school shirt on Sunday night. tree →
• Be careful, the iron is very hot! tree →
• Spinach has iron in it. tree →
• Iron rusts if you leave it out in the rain. tree →
• In the Iron Age people made tools from iron. tree →
• Dad is ironing his trousers. tree →
• But an iron claw gripped his shoulder. tree →

note

Pronounced «EYE-ern» in most of the world (the r is silent in British English). Iron the metal is uncountable; an iron (the tool) is countable. Not all metals are magnetic: iron, nickel and steel are; aluminium and copper are not. Rust is iron oxide.

In the corpora

• Red blood cells carry oxygen using iron-rich haemoglobin, white cells fight germs, and platelets help stop bleeding.
• The colour comes from iron in the enamel, which makes the tooth harder.
• The orange colour of many rodents' front teeth comes from iron in the enamel, which makes it harder.
• An iron bell-pull hung by the side, and below it, on a small brass plate ...
• She calls out a last joke about ironing his face.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «iron» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.