copper
noun /ˈkɒpə(r)/
/ˈkɑːpər/
- (symbol Cu)a chemical element. Copper is a soft red-brown metal used for making electric wires, pipes and coins.
- a copper mine
- copper pipes
- copper-coloured hair
Extra ExamplesTopics Physics and chemistryc1- Her hair shone like burnished copper.
- She works mainly in copper.
- copper alloyed with arsenic
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- pure
- molten
- beaten
- …
- mine
- produce
- contain
- …
- mine
- miner
- mining
- …
- in copper
- an alloy of copper and something
- an alloy of copper with something
- coppers[plural] (British English) brown coins that do not have much value
- I only paid a few coppers for it.
- [countable] (British English, informal) a police officer
- Apparently, her dad's a copper.
- There are a couple of coppers waiting outside.
Word Originsenses 1 to 2 Old English copor, coper (related to Dutch koper and German Kupfer), based on late Latin cuprum, from Latin cyprium aes ‘Cyprus metal’ (so named because Cyprus was the chief source).sense 3 mid 19th cent.: from cop + -er.