| 1. | any metal other than a precious or noble metal, as copper, lead, zinc, or tin. Compare noble metal, precious metal. |
| 2. | the principal metal of an alloy. |
| 3. | the principal metal of a piece underlying a coating of another metal; core. |
| base metal | |
noun | |
| a metal that is common and not considered precious; "lead, iron, copper, tin, and zinc are base metals" |