scrap metal
18
2.8
- noun
- /skræp ˈmɛtəl/
:
chatarra
- I personally built it from the wheels up out of scrap metal.
- scrap metal recycling
- scrap metal and waste
- scrap metal and cardboard
It seems like it's sitting on a piece of scrap metal maybe?
- It seems like it's sitting on a piece of scrap metal maybe?
Examples
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The 1,800-inmate facility collects scrap metal, paper, cardboard, motor oil, car and radio batteries, food residuals, and coal ash.
Academic text (1999) -
He spent most of his days away from us, assembling his pieces of scrap metal, arranging what he called, "the chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella."
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If I could sell them both for scrap metal, I would.
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Got back some of that scrap metal we sold 'em.
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Small pieces of scrap metal likely supported the cans over a fire.
Academic text (2009) -
The yard had become the largest scrap metal dealer on the East Coast.
Fiction book (1996) -
Get ready to turn those clankers into scrap metal!
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Soda cans aren't the only type of scrap metal you can recycle for money.
Blog text (6) -
They are hardworking and feisty women, very lively, selling scrap metal, fruit, vegetables and spices from pushcarts in the streets of the city.
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Last week, I took my old bicycle to the recycling center to sell it as scrap metal.
How Useful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'metal that has been discarded or is leftover' is directly derived from combining 'scrap' (a leftover piece) with 'metal' (metal). This is a straightforward compositional noun compound following common cross-linguistic compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Scrap metal comes from the simple picture of broken or cut-off pieces of metal that are called 'scrap' because they are waste left from old tools, machines, or buildings. These pieces are collected and sold to be melted and reused, so the phrase means metal that is 'discarded' and ready for recycling.