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metal
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
metal
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a plastic/glass/metal etc container
▪ A lot of food is sold in plastic containers.
base metal
heavy metal
metal detector
metal fatigue
▪ metal fatigue
metal fatigue
metal/steel/iron plates
▪ The shoes had metal plates attached to the heels.
plastic/rubber/metal etc sheeting
▪ The roof was covered in plastic sheeting.
precious metal
Scrap metal (=metal from old cars, machines etc)
▪ Scrap metal fetched high prices after the war.
sheet metal
wood/metal/print etc shop
▪ One auto shop class is run just for girls.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
base
▪ Gold mineralisation is associated with earlier fluids; antimony and base metal sulphides with later fluids.
▪ By adding base metals, the leaders debased the currency, hurting its value, and fueling inflation.
▪ RioFinex examined the Ordovician volcanic rocks of County Tyrone for base metals but found only minor intersections of low-grade copper mineralisation.
▪ Sectors expected to do well include base metals, forest products, energy and technology, he added.
▪ Gilded Finish Gilding is a process of overlaying a base metal with a very thin layer of gold.
▪ Mineralisation within the nodules consists of uranium, vanadium and iron oxides with base metal sulphides.
▪ The transmutation of base metal to gold was the paradigm of this sacred task.
▪ The area has potential for the discovery of base metal sulphides.
heavy
▪ Just the thing for all the serious aircraft enthusiasts, spotters, heavy metal fans and number-crunchers to get hold of.
▪ Lifting the heavy hunks of metal over the chain-link fence seemed improbable and buyers of black-market bronzes are scarce.
▪ Into most music except heavy metal, house, jazz and soul!
▪ In Massachusetts a metal refinishing plant had been discharging heavy metal solutions into the local waterways for years.
▪ Other plants sown with the reeds absorb heavy metals and harmful bacteria.
▪ A heavy metal vision of post-Thatcherism, maybe.
▪ The third was a heavy metal musical set on the Isle of Skye.
hot
▪ A yearning pierced through her, burning, like hot metal.
▪ Heat Hot as metal, heavy as stone, sauna shapes ripple down the thermals in zig-zags filled with boiling air.
▪ Over a thousand tons of red hot metal shrapnel from the exploded ship rained dawn with the rocks from a black sky.
▪ So the paper's first seven issues were produced on old, hot metal.
▪ There was a smell in the air, hot metal, chemical steam.
▪ Note over-large handle A plastic shroud protects the user from accidentally touching the hot metal nozzle.
▪ Hector was heavily muscled with long arms and big, high-knuckled hands that caught sharp and hot metal surfaces and absorbed grease.
other
▪ Articles made largely or wholly of gold, silver or other precious metals.
▪ Kerlin is looking at other metals extraction projects that could use similar techniques.
▪ In contrast to other commodities, metal futures contracts remain open at their original prices until their respective prompt dates.
▪ In order to eliminate price exposure on other precious metal stocks we hedge the price wherever possible by forward sales.
▪ Traditionally, gold and silver were the most highly prized metals although occasionally other metals or alloys were equally in demand.
▪ Modem glass also tends to contain a greater range of other metals such as arsenic and zinc.
precious
▪ The sheer volume of insignia required for public services means that insignia can be given only the appearance of precious metals.
▪ On a platform about thirty women were ablaze in primary colors and precious metals.
▪ They include objects of precious metal. like the jewelry and famous gold mask, and food and clothing.
▪ Some analysts argue that it should, since demand for the precious metal exceeds supplies.
▪ No less universal is their reliance on precious metals to fabricate them.
▪ Other strong groups included precious metals and oil, both groups building on recent gains.
▪ Fleischmann by contrast had studied hydrogen and precious metals for several years.
▪ The device comprises a steel casing within which a ceramic or metal support is coated with a catalyst of precious metals.
scrap
▪ This is the first time that plutonium, the most toxic substance in the world, has been discovered in scrap metal.
▪ Myat found ships loaded with scrap metal in the port of Chongjin.
▪ Economic disputes range from trade in textiles, alcohol and scrap metal to high duties on commercial flights over Siberia.
small
▪ The victim still had a small piece of metal from the van in his leg, he added.
▪ For a few seconds, he studied the small metal hatch with its four wire-secured locking nuts.
▪ They also supply small metal clips to secure items between picture glass and a sheet of hardboard or thin plywood.
▪ In the harsh light, its most notable feature is a small metal grate over a drain in the very center.
▪ A little would be sprinkled into a small metal dish placed on top of a metal cylinder.
▪ Beneath that small metal plate lay the cause of the trouble.
▪ The computer told the robot to take off two small pieces of metal from its back.
▪ The posters are separated by small metal plaques that bark out official regulations.
■ NOUN
band
▪ One said he watched as a metal band holding the propeller flew off and metal peeled away from the engine.
▪ He felt the inch of bare skin above his socks as two cold metal bands.
▪ The metal band on the outside of a wagon wheel was a tire.
▪ There's a bloody thrash metal band, actually.
▪ I never thought of us as a punk band, a metal band, or a new wave band.
▪ On his head sits a metal band with ear-phones attached.
▪ Also, we decided to make a stylistic change on this record and I see a lot of other metal bands following suit.
bar
▪ Thirty officers were attacked with bottles, and a metal bar.
▪ Porches are enclosed with metal bars, like canary cages.
▪ He was stabbed and beaten with a metal bar.
▪ If necessary use a metal bar to increase the leverage, then repeat for the further tap.
▪ A few deft strokes with a metal bar and Toby was free!
box
▪ Rural communities in particular are splintering into individual metal boxes.
▪ Ceiling fans should be mounted to a metal box in the ceiling.
▪ I put the metal box containing the army ration-strengths down on the ground.
▪ The sound of metal falling was the door of the metal box, which was the snake's home.
▪ Slender, graceful, with either end encased in a rectangular metal box they looked perfectly innocuous.
▪ And this doesn't look like the inside of a covered wagon: this looks like the inside of a metal box.
▪ Ivan brought me a battered metal box from the driver's cab.
▪ The yellow metal box that was fixed to the brickwork on the greengrocer's shop reminded Lee Sorvino of his infant son.
detector
▪ Once the search area has been widened however, enthusiasm flooded back with a loud response from one of the metal detectors.
▪ Could he please try out his metal detector in her yard?
▪ Pectoral cross Among my first finds with a metal detector are this silver cross and two coins.
▪ Security was tight; every guest was searched and walked through a metal detector upon arrival.
▪ Should the proposals come into force they would greatly affect the already unfairly restricted use of metal detectors.
▪ Save for the metal detector and federal guards in the lobby, the place could easily pass for a third-rate collection agency.
▪ Modern metal detectors are extremely good at finding such losses.
▪ Each morning, security guards search students with hand-held metal detectors.
door
▪ He found it on the far side, punched the red button and watched the big metal doors start to move.
▪ Look at this, Brice, he said, pointing to a small sticker on the metal door, yellow and black.
▪ They were led to a metal door.
▪ Our shadows clung to the shine of the metal doors.
▪ A metal door latch is dated 1743.
▪ Finally, they were let through an air lock guarded by massive metal doors into the reactor structure.
▪ A warder stood at one end of the infirmary, standing by a thick metal door.
▪ Across the hall from us is another bench, and it leads to that metal door.
ion
▪ The hydration enthalpies of some alkali metal ions and halide ions are shown in table 5.11.
▪ Trace metal ions in the solution are thereby reduced and plated on to the anodic electrode.
▪ Could metal ions be made to stick on to the outside of the fullerene football?
▪ For this reason concentrations of potentially interfering metal ions approximating the serum levels are used in the standards.
▪ High-temperature gas cleaning techniques remove the water and metal ions which are a natural constituent of silica glass, and attenuate light.
▪ Distortions due to the formation of hydrogen bonds are usually smaller than those due to co-ordination to metal ions.
▪ The nuclear industry produces waste streams which contain a variety of radioactive metal ions, the extraction of which minimises radioactive discharges.
object
▪ Always avoid metal objects coming into contact with the wine.
▪ When the mole molecules of a metal object are heated, they begin to vibrate.
▪ A metal object was used to gouge a deep wound in the animal's forehead.
▪ A few other metal objects had been fired, such as clocks and hair brushes ... but they had proved quite useless.
▪ Above the shelves, on rusty six-inch nails, hung metal objects with serrated teeth, covered in cobwebs.
▪ Buried metal objects distort this field and are detected as a result of an electrical signal picked up by a receiver coil.
▪ In Celtic society elaborate metal objects were often used to display the power of an individual or a tribe.
plate
▪ Voice over Gavin now faces the prospect of having to have a metal plate inserted in his head.
▪ Beneath that small metal plate lay the cause of the trouble.
▪ His right and left wrist were the worst affected and his body rejected the metal plates and wires inserted into them.
▪ Or magnetic rugs for men who have metal plates in their heads?
▪ The master copy is prepared on a thin metal plate or special paper.
▪ These consist of a motor-driven continuous sanding belt, held against the work by a metal plate under the body.
▪ Surgeons plan to operate tomorrow to insert a metal plate.
▪ Gravure a rotary printing process where the image is etched into the metal plate attached to a cylinder.
rod
▪ On the left was the privy, covered by a curtain which hung from a metal rod.
▪ I kept it up now for twenty minutes as Janir gripped the linked metal rods supporting his seat.
▪ This time it was a piece of wire mesh on a metal rod.
▪ He pressed himself against a metal rod.
▪ When nothing happened he remembered the short metal rod Father Conroy had given him.
▪ They dropped down wearily on metal rods.
sheet
▪ And the beauty is not just limited to the sheet metal.
▪ Houses were shoulder-high, made of old packing crates and strips of sheet metal, the walls stuffed with cardboard and rags.
▪ The technique of hammering meant that sheet metal was liable to become brittle.
▪ Some had pieces of sheet metal tacked on to them.
▪ Heinz was a sheet metal worker.
▪ But the familiar screaming of sheet metal against a wall undoubtedly will make hearts skip faster than usual.
▪ At its Llanfyllin site, Grayman Tooling and Pressings manufactures sheet metal pressings and assemblies mainly for the automotive industry.
▪ A sheet metal punch is drawn through by being tightened with an Allen key.
transition
▪ Calculations for transition metal species present particularly difficult problems.
▪ The course includes following topics - thermodynamics, kinetics, solution chemistry, organic chemistry, transition metals and metal extraction.
▪ This is one sign of the richness of the electronic spectra of compounds containing transition metal centers.
worker
▪ The rapport among masons, glaziers, painters, mosaicists and metal workers was complete and satisfying.
▪ Heinz was a sheet metal worker.
▪ At Falkirk there are many skilled metal workers in iron, brass and copper.
▪ Voice over She's not the only metal worker at the exhibition.
▪ Nationally, this can be seen most clearly in the poor settlement achieved by the metal workers.
▪ More reliable data for the metal workers, the most powerful sector, show only 20-25 percent unionization.
■ VERB
contain
▪ He found that glass containing these metals was useful for sun-glasses.
▪ Scientists assume that those planets' high-pressure cores contain metal hydrogen.
▪ Both results suggest that the nanotubes are filled with yttrium carbide crystals, and contain no yttrium metal or yttrium oxide.
▪ Noting that nearly all mines contain metal, Rep.
▪ For example a ship called the Felicia left Philadelphia in August 1986 carrying a cargo of incinerator ash containing harmful metal residues.
▪ They reported a ruined city, containing strange metal statues which appeared of sophisticated manufacture.
▪ This is one sign of the richness of the electronic spectra of compounds containing transition metal centers.
▪ So although the new machine contains less metal than its predecessor, if offers a high standard of construction.
use
▪ Endill was using both wood and metal in his plane but he didn't dare tell either Mr Welt or Mr Walpit.
▪ People are using more metals, instead of just painting it.
▪ With the right accessories it can also be used for metal filing, wood and plastic rasping, and for brushing!
▪ Application Tell the students that chimes can be made by using a metal spoon instead of a coat hanger.
▪ It can be used on wood and metal, and needs no primer or undercoat.
▪ These are not six different serious proposals for using the metal resources of the belt!
▪ One is chemical, using either a metal softener or corrosive.
▪ Analysts said the mining shares are also expected to profit from the growing global demand for electronics parts which use their metals.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
galvanized iron/metal etc
metal-coated/plastic-coated etc
noble gas/metal
put/press/push the pedal to the metal
▪ By the second half of the game, the Tigers had really started to put the pedal to the metal.
▪ Later, Brooks' brother alleged that racism helped put the pedal to the metal.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ metal pipes
▪ metal, punk, and folk bands
▪ The frame is made of metal.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A metal object was used to gouge a deep wound in the animal's forehead.
▪ An electric arc, or continuous spark, flows between a metal electrode and the steel.
▪ During their absence, contractors arrived to remove a quantity of rubbish and unfortunately took all the metal parts as well!
▪ For many fans, metal, with its pile-driving sound and locker-room lyrics, is more than a rite of passage.
▪ Jed took hold of the cold metal and knocked twice.
▪ Teledyne, which has metals, consumer products, aerospace and other businesses is another spinoff possibility, according to Tuttle.
▪ The metals are used in pigments that color vinyl.
▪ The movement of trace-elements through the environment A large number of chemical reactions take place when trace metals move through the environment.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Metal

Metal \Met"al\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F. m['e]tal, L. metallum metal, mine, Gr. ? mine; cf. Gr. ? to search after. Cf. Mettle, Medal.]

  1. (Chem.) An elementary substance, as sodium, calcium, or copper, whose oxide or hydroxide has basic rather than acid properties, as contrasted with the nonmetals, or metalloids. No sharp line can be drawn between the metals and nonmetals, and certain elements partake of both acid and basic qualities, as chromium, manganese, bismuth, etc.

    Note: Popularly, the name is applied to certain hard, fusible metals, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, nickel, etc., and also to the mixed metals, or metallic alloys, as brass, bronze, steel, bell metal, etc.

  2. Ore from which a metal is derived; -- so called by miners.
    --Raymond.

  3. A mine from which ores are taken. [Obs.]

    Slaves . . . and persons condemned to metals.
    --Jer. Taylor.

  4. The substance of which anything is made; material; hence, constitutional disposition; character; temper.

    Not till God make men of some other metal than earth.
    --Shak.

  5. Courage; spirit; mettle. See Mettle.
    --Shak.

    Note: The allusion is to the temper of the metal of a sword blade.
    --Skeat.

  6. The broken stone used in macadamizing roads and ballasting railroads.

  7. The effective power or caliber of guns carried by a vessel of war.

  8. Glass in a state of fusion.
    --Knight.

  9. pl. The rails of a railroad. [Eng.]

    Base metal (Chem.), any one of the metals, as iron, lead, etc., which are readily tarnished or oxidized, in contrast with the noble metals. In general, a metal of small value, as compared with gold or silver.

    Fusible metal (Metal.), a very fusible alloy, usually consisting of bismuth with lead, tin, or cadmium.

    Heavy metals (Chem.), the metallic elements not included in the groups of the alkalies, alkaline earths, or the earths; specifically, the heavy metals, as gold, mercury, platinum, lead, silver, etc.

    Light metals (Chem.), the metallic elements of the alkali and alkaline earth groups, as sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, etc.; also, sometimes, the metals of the earths, as aluminium.

    Muntz metal, an alloy for sheathing and other purposes, consisting of about sixty per cent of copper, and forty of zinc. Sometimes a little lead is added. It is named from the inventor.

    Prince's metal (Old Chem.), an alloy resembling brass, consisting of three parts of copper to one of zinc; -- also called Prince Rupert's metal.

Metal

Metal \Met"al\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Metaled (? or ?) or Metalled; p. pr. & vb. n. Metaling or Metalling.] To cover with metal; as, to metal a ship's bottom; to metal a road.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
metal

mid-13c., from Old French metal "metal; material, substance, stuff" (12c.), from Latin metallum "metal; mine, quarry, mineral, what is got by mining," from Greek metallon "metal, ore" (senses only in post-classical texts; originally "mine, quarry, pit"), probably from metalleuein "to mine, to quarry," of unknown origin, but related somehow to metallan "to seek after." Compare Greek metalleutes "a miner," metalleia "a searching for metals, mining."

metal

late 14c., from metal (n.).

Wiktionary
metal

  1. 1 (context music English) Characterized by strong, fast drum-beats and distorted guitars. (1970s and after) 2 Having the emotional or social characteristics associated with metal music; brash, bold, frank, unyielding, etc. n. 1 (lb en heading) ''Chemical elements or alloys, and the mines where their ores come from.'' 2 # Any of a number of chemical elements in the periodic table that form a metallic bond with other metal atoms; generally shiny, somewhat malleable and hard, often a conductor of heat and electricity. v

  2. To make a road using crushed rock, stones et

Related phrases:
WordNet
metal

  1. v. cover with metal

  2. [also: metalling, metalled]

metal

  1. adj. containing or made of or resembling or characteristic of a metal; "a metallic compound"; "metallic luster"; "the strange metallic note of the meadow lark, suggesting the clash of vibrant blades"- Ambrose Bierce [syn: metallic, metal(a)] [ant: nonmetallic]

  2. [also: metalling, metalled]

metal

  1. n. any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc. [syn: metallic element]

  2. a mixture containing two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements usually fused together or dissolving into each other when molten; "brass is an alloy of zinc and copper" [syn: alloy]

  3. [also: metalling, metalled]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Metal (Wu Xing)

Metal , the fourth phase of the Chinese philosophy of Wu Xing, is the decline of the matter, or the matter's decline stage. Metal is yin in character, its motion is inwards and its energy is contracting. It is associated with the autumn, the west, old age, the planet Venus, the color white, dry weather, and the White Tiger (Bai Hu) in Four Symbols. The archetypal metals are silver and gold.

Metal (Manilla Road album)

Metal is an album released by heavy metal band Manilla Road in 1982.

Metal (Preston Reed album)

Metal is guitarist Preston Reed's first recording for Dusty Closet Records. It was re-released in 2002 on his own label, Outer Bridge Records (OB1002). The re-release includes a different version of the title track.

Metal (Annihilator album)

Metal is the twelfth album by Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, released on April 16, 2007 by SPV/Steamhammer. However, it wasn't released in the United States until January 15, 2008. Waters gathered many guest musicians to perform the album.

Metal

A metal (from Greek μέταλλον métallon, "mine, quarry, metal") is a material (an element, compound, or alloy) that is typically hard, opaque, shiny, and has good electrical and thermal conductivity. Metals are generally malleable — that is, they can be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking — as well as fusible (able to be fused or melted) and ductile (able to be drawn out into a thin wire). About 91 of the 118 elements in the periodic table are metals, the others are nonmetals or metalloids. Some elements appear in both metallic and non-metallic forms.

Astrophysicists use the term "metal" to collectively describe all elements other than hydrogen and helium. In that sense, the metallicity of an object is the proportion of its matter made up of chemical elements other than hydrogen and helium.

Many elements and compounds that are not normally classified as metals become metallic under high pressures; these are formed as metallic allotropes of non-metals.

Metal (disambiguation)

A metal is a chemical element that readily conducts electricity and heat, forms cations, and bonds ionically with non-metals.

Metal may also refer to:

  • Métal, a portfolio by photographer Germaine Krull (1897–1985)
  • Metal (Wu Xing), one of the five Wu Xing
  • Metal Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Metallicity, the proportion of elements other than hydrogen and helium in matter
  • Metals, two of the seven basic types of tincture (heraldry)
  • Road metal, the crushed stone used for road surfaces and railway track ballast
  • "Metal", the default look and feel for GUI applications in Swing (Java)
  • Metal (API), a graphics API from Apple for iOS and OS X
  • Metal, in glassblowing terminology, molten glass
  • Metal Sonic has been referred to by just the name "Metal" when addressed by Sonic the Hedgehog

Metal also has a number of uses in music:

  • Heavy metal music, often referred to simply as "metal"
  • Metal (Annihilator album)
  • Metal (Pierre Estève album)
  • Metal (Manilla Road album), or the title track
  • Metal (Preston Reed album), or the title track
  • Metals (Feist album)
  • Metal (EP), an EP by Newsted
  • "Metal" (Gary Numan song), on the album The Pleasure Principle
  • " The Metal", a song on Tenacious D's album The Pick of Destiny
  • Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, a documentary
  • Metal (magazine), an Argentine heavy metal magazine
Metal (song)

"Metal" is a song by Gary Numan from his 1979 album The Pleasure Principle. Lyrically the song is science fiction, inspired by the works of Phillip K. Dick and William S. Burroughs, and is about an android who wishes to be human, but never can be. The song was the B-side of " Cars" in the USA.

The song has been a regular feature at Numan's live shows since his first tour in 1979, and appears on the majority of his live albums. In 1981 Numan wrote new lyrics to the tune of "Metal" for his album Dance, and renamed the song "Moral". Numan often performs this version. The song was reworked into his aggressive new style in 1998, and this version is still being performed today. "Metal" has been covered by many artists, including Nine Inch Nails on their Things Falling Apart album (2000) and Afrika Bambaataa (with Numan himself) on Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light (2004). Numan also collaborated on a reinterpretation by Kraftwerk.

Metal (magazine)

Metal was an Argentine heavy metal music magazine edited from 1983 to 1995. It was published by Magendra, which also published the magazine Pelo, devoted to rock. Metal was the first heavy metal magazine published in Argentina.

The initial interviews were taken from foreign magazines, but years later they got their own ones with correspondents or by telephone interviews. The magazine also grew from a black&white publication to a few pages in colour as it grew.

The magazine published a CD in 1990, with songs of Argentine bands of the time: Pappo & The Widowmakers, Horcas, Lethal, El Dragón, JAF, Hermética, Kamikaze, Alakran, Tarzen, 2112 and El Reloj.

Another heavy metal music magazine edited since 1989, Madhouse, had a greater success. Metal ended being published in 1995.

Metal (EP)

Metal is the debut EP by heavy metal band Newsted. The band was formed by American bassist Jason Newsted in 2012. The EP was released on January 8, 2013, under Newsted's own record label Chophouse Records. The EP was recorded at the Creation Lab studio in Turlock, California.

Metal (Pierre Estève album)

Metal is the sixth album by French composer Pierre Estève and was released in 2001 by Shooting Star. It is the second album after Bamboo from Esteve's MADe IN series, based on matters from Chinese instrument classification.

Metal (API)

Metal is a low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated graphics and compute application programming interface (API) that debuted in iOS 8. It combines functionality similar to OpenGL and OpenCL under one API. It is intended to bring to iOS some of the performance benefits of similar APIs on other platforms, such as Khronos Group's cross-platform Vulkan and Microsoft's Direct3D 12 for Windows. Since June 8, 2015, Metal is available for iOS devices using the Apple A7 or later, as well as Macs (2012 models or later) running OS X El Capitan. Metal also further improves the capabilities of GPGPU programming by introducing compute shaders.

Metal uses a new shading language based on C++11; this is implemented using Clang and LLVM.

Support for Metal on OS X was announced at WWDC 2015.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "metal".

According to his suit sensors, the spaces between the interlocking struts contained a thin molecular haze from the slowly ablating metal.

The metal hoops of the accelerating cage sang lightly as the weight came on.

Winston Havershem, a transfer from England the previous year, was heavy into heavy metal and accessorized his basic black wardrobe at the hardware store.

The precipitation of lead from acid solutions with sulphuric acid, and the solubility of the precipitate in ammonium acetate, distinguishes it from all other metals.

A single adamantine bridge, a narrow slab of metal without guardrails and wide enough for only two or three men abreast, spanned the moat.

She had found four species that adsorbed heavy metals, and two that absorbed dissolved silicates and fixed them into their rigid stalks.

They contain such items as spare parts, chemical supplies, emergency seeds for restarting aeroponics, sheet and bar metal.

There was a small amount of sulphurous light from the street lights strung along the se afront path, and I saw Danny climbing the metal steps over the sea wall.

You climb down the ladder and go aft to the ballast-tank vents, the shiny metal plates in pairs along the centerline.

In that mysterious region known to explorers as the Sargasso Sea, the youth found a weird metal ship surviving from the lost age of High Atlantis, on which there still lived an Atlantean sorceress, an ageless and beautiful creature called Corenice, who inhabits an eternal and deathless body of impervious metal.

In the alameda an old woman in a black rebozo was going about tilting the metal tables and chairs to let the water run off.

The alchemical symbolism is lavish: base and precious metals, kings and queens.

More locks, more tools, rough chunks of metal and wood, and a number of devices whose uses Alec could not guess were mixed indiscriminately among masks, carvings, musical instruments of all descriptions, animal skulls, dried plants, fine pottery, glittering crystals-there was no rhyme or reason apparent in the arrangement.

Springs, alembics, coils of copper tubing, buckled sheets of metal, gear systems both rack-and-pinion and epicyclic, pendulums, levers, cams, cranks, differentials, bearings, pulleys, assorted tools, and stone jars containing alkahest and corrosive substances crowded every horizontal surface.

The rearview mirror was nothing but a shattered metal frame, the mirror blasted into tiny pieces all over them.