any of certain common metals such as copper, lead, zinc, and tin, as distinct from the precious metals, gold, silver, and platinum
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
base′ met′al,
- Metallurgyany metal other than a precious or noble metal, as copper, lead, zinc, or tin. Cf. noble metal, precious metal.
- Metallurgythe principal metal of an alloy.
- Metallurgythe principal metal of a piece underlying a coating of another metal;
core.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'base metal' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
billon
- commute
- core
- electrotin
- filled gold
- gold plate
- gold-filled
- menstruum
- metallide
- minor coin
- silver plate
- standard