# bronze

Pronunciation: US say "BRAHNZ" /bɹɑnz/; UK/AUS say "BRONZ" /bɹɒnz/

## Noun

1. An alloy of copper, natural or man-made, usually combined with tin but also with one or more other metals.
   - Simple: A metal made by mixing copper with tin or with other metals.
   - _Early metalworkers learned to make bronze by melting copper together with tin._
   - _The foundry pours molten bronze into sand molds to cast ship propellers._
2. Third place in a competition, or the medal awarded for finishing third.
   - Simple: Third place in a race or contest, or the medal you get for it.
   - _He took bronze in the 400 meters, just behind the silver medalist._
   - _The team lost its semifinal but came back the next day to win the bronze._
5. A reddish-brown color, the color of the metal bronze.
   - Simple: A red-brown color, like the color of the metal bronze.
   - _By late fall the oak leaves had faded to a dull bronze._
   - _The sedan comes in three colors: silver, black, and a deep metallic bronze._
6. A sculpture or other work of art made of bronze.
   - Simple: A statue or other piece of art made of bronze.
   - _The auction's top lot was a Renaissance bronze of a rearing horse._
   - _Collectors prize his later bronzes for their fine surface detail._

## Adjective

3. Made of the metal bronze.
   - Simple: Made out of the metal called bronze.
   - _Visitors rub the bronze plaque until its letters shine._
   - _Ancient smiths made bronze swords and spearheads long before iron came into use._
4. Having a reddish-brown color like that of bronze, especially of skin tanned by the sun.
   - Simple: Reddish-brown in color, like bronze. Often used of skin that is tanned.
   - _He came back from two weeks of sailing with bronze, sun-tanned shoulders._
   - _Bronze chrysanthemums filled the planters along the front walk._

## Verb

7. To give something a bronze color, or (of skin) to become tanned from the sun.
   - Simple: To make something brownish-gold in color, or to get a suntan.
   - _A month of sailing had bronzed his shoulders and bleached his hair._
   - _Late afternoon light can bronze the canyon walls in the minutes before sunset._
9. To finish in third place in a competition, winning the bronze medal.
   - Simple: To finish third in a race or contest and win the bronze medal.
   - _The American pair bronzed in ice dance after a nearly flawless free skate._
   - _Few expected the 17-year-old to bronze in her Olympic debut._
8. To coat something with a thin layer of bronze.
   - Simple: To cover something with a thin coat of bronze.
   - _Many parents have a baby's first shoes bronzed as a keepsake._
   - _The workshop will bronze almost any small object, from car keys to teaspoons._

## Noun

10. Boldness or impudence: the nerve to act without shame. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Being very bold or rude without feeling any shame.

## Verb

11. To make hard or unfeeling, or to make brazen and shameless. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make a person hard, so they stop caring or feeling shame.

## Origin

From French bronze (recorded in 1511), from Italian bronzo (13th century), whose origin is uncertain. Matthew Prior used it in the early 1700s, and the Italian form bronzo had appeared in English as early as 1617.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bronze (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).