gunmetal

noun

1. (countable, historical, uncountable)A type of bronze used for making cannons.

   “The beſt Guns are not made of malleable Metal, and cannot be made of pure Copper or Braß; but it is neceſſary to put in courſer Metals to make it run cloſer and ſounder, as Lead and Pot-metal. […] About 20l. of Lead is uſually put into 100l. of Pot-metal; but about 6l. is ſufficient to put into 100l. of Gun-metal.”

   “Braſs, Copper, Latten, Bell-Metal, Pan-Metal, Gun-Metal, or Shruff-Metal, whether clean or mixed, carried beyond Sea, forfeits double the Value thereof; (Tin and Lead only excepted) the Informer half, […]”

2. (countable, uncountable)An alloy of 88% copper, 10% tin and 2% zinc, originally used for making guns.

   “The pump [of the steam fire-engine], being at the forward end, was made of gun metal and was double acting, having eight brass suction-valves, four on each side, and four discharge valves, opening into the air vessels, to which a double discharge valve, having one opening on the inside and two on the outside, was attached for the purpose of using two lines of hose.”

   “It is three tiers high inside the prison and everything is the color of gunmetal. Everything is dark and cold, except for those patches of light, where authority stands.”

   “Gunmetals are alloys of copper, tin and zinc, formerly used for casting cannon. With lead additions they become suitable as bearing materials and are called leaded gunmetals (the US term is leaded red brass); they are quite often misnamed bronzes.”

   “Of his addictive behavior, he [Robert Downey Jr.] told a judge, "It's like I have a shotgun in my mouth, and I've got my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gunmetal."”

3. (also, attributive, countable, uncountable)A dark grey or bluish-grey colour; gunmetal grey.

   “Yet even asleep, a Sabre, Jaguar, Harrier, Phantom, Falcon or Eagle holds the eye as a design classic, and that worrisome beauty is still there close up—the cared for, nurtured, spoiled feel, the expensive finish, the quality of the materials, the craftsmanship evident in the flush rivets, the highly polished canopy, the gunmetal sheen of the external instrument sensors, each carefully protected by rubber sheaths with flapping red tags to remind the pilot to take them off before flight.”