heavy metal

noun
/ˈhɛv.i ˌmɛt.əl/US

Etymology

According to the Oxford World's Classics edition of Anthony Trollope's Rachel Ray (1863), "big guns," as on a warship. The origin of the music genre sense is often disputed; it was used by William S. Burroughs in Soft Machine and Nova Express and various music critics claim to have coined it: Sandy Pearlman, Lester Bangs and Mike Saunders.

Definitions

  1. Any metal that has a specific gravity greater than about 5, especially one, such as lead,…

    Any metal that has a specific gravity greater than about 5, especially one, such as lead, that is poisonous and may be a hazard in the environment. (There are many different definitions of what counts as a heavy metal; see Heavy metals for a discussion.)

  2. A genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly…

    A genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness; often featuring extended instrumental solos and powerful vocals.

  3. Guns or shot of large size.

  4. + 1 more definition
    1. Great influence or power.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for heavy metal. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA