Malleable definition |Dictionary.com

Malleable

8 dictionary results for: Malleable

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mal·le·a·ble

[mal-ee-uh-buh

l] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	capable of being extended or shaped by hammering or by pressure from rollers.

2.	adaptable or tractable: the malleable mind of a child.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME malliable < ML malleābilis, equiv. to malle(āre) to hammer (deriv. of L malleus hammer) + -ābilis -able

]

—Related forms

mal·le·a·bly, adverb

mal·le·a·bil·i·ty, mal·le·a·ble·ness, noun

—Synonyms 2. impressionable, moldable, flexible, pliable.

—Antonyms 2. refractory, intractable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mal·le·a·ble (māl'ē-ə-bəl) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Capable of being shaped or formed, as by hammering or pressure: a malleable metal.
Easily controlled or influenced; tractable.
Able to adjust to changing circumstances; adaptable: the malleable mind of the pragmatist.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin malleābilis, from malleāre, to hammer, from Latin malleus, hammer; see melə- in Indo-European roots.]

mal'le·a·bil'i·ty, mal'le·a·ble·ness n., mal'le·a·bly adv.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean capable of being shaped, bent, or drawn out: malleable metals such as gold and silver; ductile copper; a plastic substance such as wax; soaked the leather to make it pliable; pliant molten glass.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
malleable

c.1386, from M.L. malleabilis, from malleare "to beat with a hammer," from L. malleus "hammer" (see mallet). Figurative sense, of persons, "capable of being adapted" first recorded 1612.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

malleable
adjective
1.	easily influenced [syn: ductile]
2.	capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; "ductile copper"; "malleable metals such as gold"; "they soaked the leather to made it pliable"; "pliant molten glass"; "made of highly tensile steel alloy" [syn: ductile]

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

malleable (māl'ē-ə-bəl) Pronunciation Key
Capable of great deformation without breaking, when subject to compressive stress. Gold is the most malleable metal. Compare ductile.

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

malleable mal·le·a·ble (māl'ē-ə-bəl)
adj.

Capable of being shaped or formed, as by hammering or pressure.
Easily controlled or influenced; tractable.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Malleable

Mal"le*a*ble\, a. [F. mall['e]able, fr. LL. malleare to hammer. See Malleate.] Capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers; -- applied to metals.

Malleable iron, iron that is capable of extension or of being shaped under the hammer; decarbonized cast iron. See under Iron.

Malleable iron castings, articles cast from pig iron and made malleable by heating then for several days in the presence of some substance, as hematite, which deprives the cast iron of some of its carbon.

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