ˈbell-ˌmetal
The substance of which bells are made; an alloy of copper and tin, the tin being in larger proportion than in ordinary bronze.
The proportions of the constituents vary within the limits of 31/4 and 4 of copper to 1 of tin: the former is suited for large bells, the latter for small house-bells.
| 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, vii. §1 No person..should..conuey anie brasse..laten, bell metall, gun metall..into..partes beyonde the sea. 1522–3 Inv. Ch. Goods Staffs. 24 A bokett of belmettel. 1613 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 235 A licence to carrie Bell-mettall out of the Realme. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 420 Copper alloyed with from 1/12 to 1/5 of tin forms the different species of bronze and bell-metal. |
b. attrib. Made of or resembling this alloy. Also fig. applied to a loud ringing voice.
| 1780 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 225/2 By eating mushrooms stewed in a bell-metal saucepan. 1816 Southey in Q. Rev. XVI. 271 Any blockhead with a brazen face and a bell-metal voice. 1837 Dana Min. (1880) 68 [Stannite] frequently has the appearance of bronze or bell metal, and hence the name bell-metal ore. |