Iron, when used

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

ically, refers to certain traits of the

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

. Used as an

adjective In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...

and sometimes as a

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

, it refers to something stern, harsh, strong, unyielding, inflexible, rigid, sturdy, strong, robust, hard.''

Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary'' is a large American dictionary, first published in 1966 as ''The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: The Unabridged Edition''. Edited by Editor-in-chief Jess Stein, it contained 315, ...

List of iron metaphors

Persons and characters

* Iron Duke (disambiguation) * Iron Felix (disambiguation) * Iron Lady (disambiguation) * Iron Man (disambiguation) * Iron Mike (disambiguation) * Princess Iron Fan (disambiguation) * Otto von Bismarck, known as the Iron Chancellor * ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bu ...

'', a Japanese cooking show * , known as Iron Eye *

Iron Eyes Cody Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti, April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor of Italian descent who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, famously as ''Chief Iron Eyes'' in Bob Hope's '' The Paleface'' (1948). ...

, Sicilian-American actor * The Iron Heinrich, a rough translation of the German fairy tale The Frog Prince *

Iron Heroes ''Iron Heroes''. (previously also known as ''Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes''; originally announced as ''Iron Lore'') is a variant ''Player's Handbook'' for the d20 System of role-playing games, in the tradition of '' Arcana Unearthed''. It inc ...

, a variant book of rules for the game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' *

Iron John "Iron John" (AKA "Iron Hans" or "Der Eisenhans") is a German fairy tale found in the collections of the Brothers Grimm, tale number 136, about a wild iron-skinned man and a prince. The original German title is ''Eisenhans'', a compound of ''Eis ...

, a German fairy tale * Eon Kid, English title of the TV series '' Iron Kid'' *

Iron Lad Iron Lad (Nathaniel "Nate" Richards) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an adolescent version of Kang the Conqueror, armed with a bio-metal suit that responds to mental command ...

, a fictional superhero *

Iron Maniac Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...

, an evil alternative universe character of fictional Marvel superhero

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...

* Iron Munro, a fictional superhero * Persephone, known as the Iron Queen * Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, known as the Iron Sheik * Iron Shell, Brule Sioux chief * Iron Tail, Oglala Sioux warrior * Tigran Petrosian, known as Iron Tigran *

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

as a name, meaning ''

'' in

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turki ...

, widespread in Western and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

since the days of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

* Hadid is an Arabic name (both given and surname) literally meaning "iron"

Animals and plants

* Iron Bird (disambiguation) * Iron Butterfly (disambiguation) * Iron Dragon (disambiguation) * Iron Eagle (disambiguation) * Iron Monkey (disambiguation) * Iron Wolf (disambiguation) * Iron horse (disambiguation) * Iron wood (disambiguation) * ''Ferrocalamus'' ( iron bamboo) * Iron cobra, a "construct" in the game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' * Iron condor, an option trading strategy utilizing two vertical spreads * Iron Kong, a fictional character from the science fiction media franchise Zoids

Body parts

* Iron Fist (disambiguation) * Iron Hand (disambiguation) * Iron Hands (disambiguation) * Iron lung (disambiguation) * See

Joseph LaFlesche Joseph LaFlesche, also known as ''E-sta-mah-za'' or Iron Eye (1822–1888), was the last recognized head chief of the Omaha tribe of Native Americans who was selected according to the traditional tribal rituals. The head chief Big Elk had adopted ...

* '' The Iron Heel'', a 1908 dystopian novel * Iron Palm, a body of training techniques in various Chinese martial arts

Geography

* Iron City (disambiguation) *

Iron Mountain (disambiguation) Iron Mountain may refer to: Places Czech Republic Ranges * Iron Mountains (Czech Republic) / Železné hory, a mountain ridge in Chrudim District in the middle of Czech Republic United States Communities * Iron Mountain, Michigan, a city * Iron ...

* Iron River (disambiguation) * Iron Range, regions around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada

Other iron metaphors

* Iron Bird (disambiguation) * Iron Curtain (disambiguation) * Iron Maiden (disambiguation) * Iron Triangle (disambiguation) * Unguided bomb, known as an iron bomb *

Iron Brigade The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought ent ...

, a Civil War brigade * Iron cage, a sociology term *

Iron Fire Iron Fire is a Danish power metal, power and speed metal band which was formed in 1995 under the name Misery. The name was soon changed to Decades of Darkness and finally to Iron Fire.Hinds, Andy " Iron Fire Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 30 ...

, a Danish power and speed metal band *

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was stron ...

, a historical far-right movement in Romania *

Iron harvest The iron harvest () is the annual collection of unexploded ordnance, barbed wire, shrapnel, bullets and congruent trench supports collected by Belgian and French farmers after ploughing their fields. The harvest generally consists of material fr ...

, an annual "harvest" collected by Belgian and French farmers after ploughing their fields * ''

Iron Helix ''Iron Helix'' is a FMV adventure video game made for Windows, Macintosh, and the Sega CD. It was an early example of a CD-based game, including video elements integrated with conventional 2D maps and controls. The game was designed by Drew Pic ...

'', a 1993 video game * '' Iron Seed'', a 1994 DOS video game * Iron shirt, a form of hard style martial art exercise * '' Iron Sunrise'', a 2004 hard science fiction novel * '' Iron Will'', a 1994 film

Gallery

Image:Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.png, The Iron Duke Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1990-023-06A, Otto von Bismarck.jpg, The Iron Chancellor Image:Margaret Thatcher stock portrait (cropped).jpg,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, the ''Iron Lady'' Image:2.5l tech 4 engine.jpg , An Iron Duke engine Image:Poumon_artificiel.jpg , An iron lung Image:Z800 2066 JKU.jpeg ,

Big iron "Big Iron" is a country ballad written and performed by Marty Robbins, originally released as an album track on ''Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs'' in September 1959, then as a single in February 1960 with the song "Saddle Tramp" as the B-sid ...

, an IBM z800 2066 mainframe Image:Python-nickel.jpg , "Big Iron" or Colt Python Image:Map_of_Minnesota_highlighting_Iron_Range.png , Iron Range in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

Image:Point Alpha Ostseite.jpg , The

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...

in modern-day

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...