heavy metal

See synonyms for heavy metal on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any metal with a specific gravity of 5.0 or greater, especially one that is toxic to organisms, as lead, mercury, copper, and cadmium.

  2. aggressive and heavily amplified rock music, commonly performed by groups that wear spectacular or bizarre costumes.

Origin of heavy metal

1
1860–65, for literal sense

Other words from heavy metal

  • heavy-metal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use heavy metal in a sentence

  • Before the Plague we traded heavy metals and manufactures for imports of food and potash.

    Pariah Planet | Murray Leinster
  • We have great abundance of all the heavy metals, but the lighter metals are rare.

    The Skylark of Space | Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby

British Dictionary definitions for heavy metal

heavy metal

noun
    • a type of rock music characterized by a strong beat and amplified instrumental effects, sometimes with violent, or nihilistic lyrics

    • (as modifier): a heavy-metal band

  1. a metal with a high specific gravity

  1. military large guns or shot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012