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nine iron

nine iron

2 5.9
A golf club with a high loft used to hit short, high approach shots
  • noun
  • /naɪn ˈaɪərn/
  • Jargon
translation icon : hierro nueve
  • The golfer chose a nine iron to make a precise shot onto the green.
  • nine iron shot
  • hit a nine iron

Examples

  • That's my nine iron.

  • Check out the nine iron on this one.

  • Marcus, get the nine iron.

  • And I'd take the nine iron out and chip shots and whack, I'd just get lost, you know?

  • It's like if Tiger Woods was making a big divot with his nine-iron.

  • Dad pulled a nine iron from the trunk of his car and walked away from me to plunk a few old balls into the weeds.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • And we fade up to Tiger winning four grand slams in a row and becoming the greatest golfer to ever pick up a nine iron.

  • Don't think Jon Embree won't send his punter out there with a nine iron.

    Blog text (28)
  • After analyzing the distance, he decided that a nine iron would give him the height he needed.

  • When faced with a short approach, I often rely on my trusty nine iron.

Synonyms

wedge
vsnine iron
  • Specialized
12 5.7

A golf club with a high face used for short shots onto the green

focuses on short approach height rather than sand play or broad sole
pitching wedge
vsnine iron
  • Jargon
1 4.6

A golf club that makes the ball go high for short shots onto the green

focuses on short approach and shots needing height rather than obstacle clearance
short iron
vsnine iron
  • Jargon
1 7.2

A golf club with a short shaft and angled face used for high, short shots

is used for short approach shots and shots needing extra height

How High

sand wedge
  • Specialized
2 4.1
pitching wedge
  • Jargon
1 4.6
nine iron
  • Jargon
2 5.9
seven iron
  • Specialized
1 5.9
driver
20 5.8

Surface Forms

nine iron singular
nine irons plural

Morphology

nine + iron

The phrase 'nine iron' is directly compositional: 'nine' specifies which 'iron' (a type of golf club), so the meaning of a specific numbered golf club can be derived from its parts. This numeric + noun construction is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The compound noun nine iron comes from golf sets where clubs are given numbers and the head was made of metal, so nine is the club number and iron means the metal club. The nine iron has a very angled face to lift the ball high but only a short distance, so it is used for 'short, high' approach shots.