gun metal

Noun

gunmetal (countable and uncountable, plural gunmetals)

1. (historical) 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...1693 May, Thomas Povey, “I. The Method, Manner and Order of the Transmutation of Copper into Brass, &c. By Thomas Povey, Esq; Brought into the Royal Society, of which He is a Fellow.”, in...
2. 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...1896, William T. King, “John A. Ives & Brother – 1864”, in History of the American Steam Fire-engine, [Boston, Mass.]: [Pinkham Press], →OCLC; reprinted Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2001...

   Synonyms:

   red brass

3. (also, attributive) 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...1999, Ivan Rendall, “Preface”, in Rolling Thunder: Jet Combat from World War II to the Gulf War, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Free Press, →ISBN, page ix