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ironclad - 5 dictionary results

i⋅ron⋅clad

[adj. ahy-ern-klad; n. ahy-ern-klad]
–adjective
1. covered or cased with iron plates, as a ship for naval warfare; armor-plated.
2. very rigid or exacting; inflexible; unbreakable: an ironclad contract.
–noun
3. a wooden warship of the middle or late 19th century having iron or steel armor plating.

Origin:
1850–55; iron + clad 1
i·ron·clad   (ī'ərn-klād')   
adj.  
  1. Sheathed with iron plates for protection.
  2. Rigid; fixed: an ironclad rule.
n.  A 19th-century warship having sides armored with metal plates.

Ironclad

I"ron*clad`\, a. 1. Clad in iron; protected or covered with iron, as a vessel for naval warfare.

2. Rigorous; severe; exacting; as, an ironclad oath or pledge. [Colloq.]

Ironclad

I"ron*clad`\, n. A naval vessel having the parts above water covered and protected by iron or steel usually in large plates closely joined and made sufficiently thick and strong to resist heavy shot.

ironclad 
(adj.) of warships, 1852, Amer.Eng., from iron + clad. As a noun meaning "iron-clad ship," it is attested from 1862). Of contracts, etc., 1884.
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