ˈGerman ˈsilver
A white alloy consisting of nickel, zinc, and copper, originally obtained from an ore found at Hildburghausen.
| 1830 Mech. Mag. XIII. 96 The German silver..is now coming into vogue. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gr. Exhib. 1052 A gun..in a case of rosewood, mounted in German silver. 1873 F. Jenkin Electr. & Magn. (1883) 200 The coils (of the differential galvanometer) are sometimes made of German silver instead of copper. |
| attrib. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 58 The beggars were a kind of German-silver aristocracy. |