Library / English Dictionary

COPPER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various small butterflies of the family Lycaenidae having coppery wings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("copper" is a kind of...):

lycaenid; lycaenid butterfly (any of various butterflies of the family Lycaenidae)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "copper"):

American copper; Lycaena hypophlaeas (common copper butterfly of central and eastern North America)

Holonyms ("copper" is a member of...):

genus Lycaena; Lycaena (type genus of the Lycaenidae; small slender butterflies with upper surface of wings usually metallic blue or green or copper)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A reddish-brown color resembling the color of polished copper

Synonyms:

copper; copper color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("copper" is a kind of...):

burnt sienna; mahogany; reddish brown; sepia; Venetian red (a shade of brown with a tinge of red)

Derivation:

coppery (of something having the color of copper)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Uncomplimentary terms for a policeman

Synonyms:

bull; cop; copper; fuzz; pig

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("copper" is a kind of...):

officer; police officer; policeman (a member of a police force)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A copper penny

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("copper" is a kind of...):

cent; centime; penny (a coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor

Synonyms:

atomic number 29; copper; Cu

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("copper" is a kind of...):

metal; metallic element (any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.)

conductor (a substance that readily conducts e.g. electricity and heat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "copper"):

blister copper (an impure form of copper having a black blistered surface)

Holonyms ("copper" is a substance of...):

bornite; peacock ore (a mineral consisting of sulfides of copper and iron that is found in copper deposits)

chalcocite; copper glance (a heavy grey mineral that is an ore of copper)

chalcopyrite; copper pyrites (a yellow copper ore (CuFeS2) made up of copper and iron sulfide)

cuprite (a mineral consisting of cuprous oxide that is a source of copper)

malachite (a green or blue mineral used as an ore of copper and for making ornamental objects)

brass (an alloy of copper and zinc)

bronze (an alloy of copper and tin and sometimes other elements; also any copper-base alloy containing other elements in place of tin)

Derivation:

copper (coat with a layer of copper)

cupric (of or containing divalent copper)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Coat with a layer of copper

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "copper" is one way to...):

coat; surface (put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

copper (a ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A radiopharmaceutical composed of the nonspecific perfusion agent ethylglyoxal bis(thiosemicarbazone) (ETS) linked to the beta-emitting, radioisotope copper Cu 62, with potential tumor imaging activity upon positron emitting tomography (PET).

(Copper Cu 62 Ethylglyoxal Bis(thiosemicarbazone), NCI Thesaurus)

It cuts no ice with a British copper to tell him you’re an American citizen. ‘It’s British law and order over here,’ says he.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I don't care two coppers who he is,” cried Silver.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I know them with their puttied seams and their devil bolts, risking five hundred lives that they may steal a few pounds’ worth of copper.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Possessing antineoplastic properties, penicillamine induces apoptosis by a p53-mediated mechanism and inhibits angiogenesis by chelating with copper, a cofactor for angiogenesis.

(Penicillamine, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug that removes copper from the body and is used to treat diseases in which there is an excess of copper.

(Penicillamine, NCI Dictionary)

With a high membrane permeability and low reduction potential, copper Cu 62-ATSM easily enters cells.

(Copper Cu 62-ATSM, NCI Thesaurus)

An X-linked disorder caused by mutations in the ATP7A gene resulting in the abnormal transport and metabolism of copper.

(Menkes Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

Enzymes that use cysteine residues to transport metals such as copper and zinc throughout the body.

(Metallothionein, NCI Thesaurus)

A microscopy staining method that utilizes periodic acid, an oxoacid of iodine, Schiff reagent, the reaction product of fuchsine and sodium bisulfite, and Alcian blue, a water soluble copper phthalocyanine dye.

(Alcian Blue and Periodic Acid Schiff Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus)