alloy
noun/ˈælɔɪ/
/ˈælɔɪ/
[countable, uncountable]- a metal that is formed by mixing two types of metal together, or by mixing metal with another substance
- Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.
- alloy steel
Oxford Collocations DictionaryAlloy is used before these nouns:- wheel
- copper
- metal
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Old French aloi (noun) and French aloyer (verb), both from Old French aloier, aleier ‘combine’, from Latin alligare ‘bind’. In early use the term denoted the comparative purity of gold or silver; the sense ‘mixture of metals’ arose in the mid 17th cent.
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