basic iron
- noun
- Specialized
- Phosphorus must be removed from basic iron before it can be used in most applications.
Examples
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The steel plant uses basic iron as a raw material for producing quality steel.
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This process is designed to convert basic iron into steel by eliminating impurities.
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The factory produces basic iron for steelmaking.
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Many manufacturers rely on basic irons for their production.
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Phosphorus must be removed from basic iron before it can be used in most applications.
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The steel plant uses basic iron as a raw material for producing quality steel.
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This process converts basic iron into steel by eliminating harmful impurities.
Synonyms
People pour hot iron from a furnace into bars to be made into steel later
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase can be compositionally interpreted as 'iron that is basic/alkaline' so a learner who knows 'basic' (alkaline) and 'iron' will grasp the general idea of chemically basic iron. However, the precise metallurgical sense — pig iron high in phosphorus used in specific steelmaking processes — is specialized jargon that a B1 learner would not predict from the constituents alone, so the transparency is partial.
Etymology
Basic iron gets its name from the 'basic' cleaning used to 'remove phosphorus' from the metal. The word basic refers to the non-acid furnace and lime used to pull out the impurity, so iron made for that cleaning became known as Basic iron.