Search Result for "iron age":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. (archeology) the period following the Bronze Age; characterized by rapid spread of iron tools and weapons;

2. (classical mythology) the last and worst age of the world;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Iron \I"ron\ ([imac]"[u^]rn), a. [AS. [imac]ren, [imac]sen. See Iron, n.] [1913 Webster] 1. Of, or made of iron; consisting of iron; as, an iron bar, dust. [1913 Webster] 2. Resembling iron in color; as, iron blackness. [1913 Webster] 3. Like iron in hardness, strength, impenetrability, power of endurance, insensibility, etc.; as: (a) Rude; hard; harsh; severe. [1913 Webster] Iron years of wars and dangers. --Rowe. [1913 Webster] Jove crushed the nations with an iron rod. --Pope. (b) Firm; robust; enduring; as, an iron constitution. (c) Inflexible; unrelenting; as, an iron will. (d) Not to be broken; holding or binding fast; tenacious. "Him death's iron sleep oppressed." --Philips. [1913 Webster] Note: Iron is often used in composition, denoting made of iron, relating to iron, of or with iron; producing iron, etc.; resembling iron, literally or figuratively, in some of its properties or characteristics; as, iron-shod, iron-sheathed, iron-fisted, iron-framed, iron-handed, iron-hearted, iron foundry or iron-foundry. [1913 Webster] Iron age. (a) (Myth.) The age following the golden, silver, and bronze ages, and characterized by a general degeneration of talent and virtue, and of literary excellence. In Roman literature the Iron Age is commonly regarded as beginning after the taking of Rome by the Goths, A. D. 410. (b) (Arch[ae]ol.) That stage in the development of any people characterized by the use of iron implements in the place of the more cumbrous stone and bronze. Iron cement, a cement for joints, composed of cast-iron borings or filings, sal ammoniac, etc. Iron clay (Min.), a yellowish clay containing a large proportion of an ore of iron. Iron cross, a German, and before that Prussian, order of military merit; also, the decoration of the order. Iron crown, a golden crown set with jewels, belonging originally to the Lombard kings, and indicating the dominion of Italy. It was so called from containing a circle said to have been forged from one of the nails in the cross of Christ. Iron flint (Min.), an opaque, flintlike, ferruginous variety of quartz. Iron founder, a maker of iron castings. Iron foundry, the place where iron castings are made. Iron furnace, a furnace for reducing iron from the ore, or for melting iron for castings, etc.; a forge; a reverberatory; a bloomery. Iron glance (Min.), hematite. Iron hat, a headpiece of iron or steel, shaped like a hat with a broad brim, and used as armor during the Middle Ages. Iron horse, a locomotive engine. [Colloq.] Iron liquor, a solution of an iron salt, used as a mordant by dyers. Iron man (Cotton Manuf.), a name for the self-acting spinning mule. Iron mold or Iron mould, a yellow spot on cloth stained by rusty iron. Iron ore (Min.), any native compound of iron from which the metal may be profitably extracted. The principal ores are magnetite, hematite, siderite, limonite, G["o]thite, turgite, and the bog and clay iron ores. Iron pyrites (Min.), common pyrites, or pyrite. See Pyrites. Iron sand, an iron ore in grains, usually the magnetic iron ore, formerly used to sand paper after writing. Iron scale, the thin film which forms on the surface of wrought iron in the process of forging. It consists essentially of the magnetic oxide of iron, Fe3O4. Iron works, a furnace where iron is smelted, or a forge, rolling mill, or foundry, where it is made into heavy work, such as shafting, rails, cannon, merchant bar, etc. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Iron Age n 1: (archeology) the period following the Bronze Age; characterized by rapid spread of iron tools and weapons 2: (classical mythology) the last and worst age of the world
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

Iron Age n. In the history of computing, 1961-1971 ? the formative era of commercial mainframe technology, when ferrite-core dinosaurs ruled the earth. The Iron Age began, ironically enough, with the delivery of the first minicomputer (the PDP-1) and ended with the introduction of the first commercial microprocessor (the Intel 4004) in 1971. See also Stone Age; compare elder days.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

Iron Age In the history of computing, 1961-1971 - the formative era of commercial mainframe technology, when ferrite core memory dinosaurs ruled the earth. The Iron Age began, ironically enough, with the delivery of the first minicomputer (the PDP-1) and ended with the introduction of the first commercial microprocessor (the Intel 4004) in 1971. See also Stone Age; compare elder days. [Jargon File] (2003-09-27)