Emily Dickinson Lexicon

I'RON, n. [i'urn, or i'rn; Sax. iren; Scot. irne, yrn, or airn; Isl. iarn; Sw. järn or iärn; Dan. iern; W. haiarn; Ir. iarann; Ann. hoarn; G. eisen; D. yzer. Qu. L. ferrum, for herrum. The radical elements of this word are not easily ascertained.]

1. A metal, the hardest, most common and most useful of all the metals; of a livid whitish color inclined to gray, internally composed, to appearance, of small facets, and susceptible of a fine polish. It is so hard and elastic as to be capable of destroying the aggregation of any other metal. Next to tin, it is the lightest of all metallic substances, and next to gold, the most tenacious. It may be hammered into plates, but not into leaves. Its ductility is more considerable. It has the property of magnetism; it is attracted by the lodestone, and will acquire its properties. It is found rarely in native masses; but in ores, mineralized by different substances, it abounds in every part of the earth. Its medicinal qualities are valuable. Fourcroy. Encyc.
2. An instrument or utensil made of iron; as, a flat-iron, a smoothing-iron. Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? Job xli.
3. Figuratively, strength; power; as, a rod of iron. Dan. ii.
4. Irons, plur. fetters; chains; manacles; handcuffs. Ps. cv.