pinchbeck
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Pinchbeck
Etymology
Named after Christopher Pinchbeck, an 18th century London watchmaker who developed the alloy.
Noun
pinchbeck (usually uncountable, plural pinchbecks)
Translations
an alloy of copper and zinc
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Adjective
pinchbeck (comparative more pinchbeck, superlative most pinchbeck)
- (not comparable) Made of pinchbeck.
- 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Artist of the Beautiful”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
- on the inside were suspended a variety of watches, pinchbeck, silver, and one or two of gold
- Sham; spurious, artificial; being a cheap substitution; only superficially attractive.
- 1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
- Where, in these pinchbeck days, can we hope to find the old agricultural virtue in all its purity?
- 1912, Esther Willard Bates, Pageants and Pageantry, page 237:
- Vain Delight must have lost her freshness, and be older and more pinchbeck.
- 1915, Joseph Conrad, Victory, Note to the First Edition:
- The second point on which I wish to offer a remark is the existence (in the novel) of a person named Schomberg.
That I believe him to be true goes without saying. I am not likely to offer pinchbeck wares to my public consciously.
- 1996, John M. Sherwig, Guineas and Gunpowder: British Foreign Aid In the Wars with France, 1793-1815, page 180:
- Coming at a time when Alexander was trying desperately to halt Napoleon's advance, the British response to his call for help appeared even more pinchbeck than it was.
- 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 183:
- Anyway, at least I had created the pinchbeck crown in which Dai could place his jewel.
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