[f. SOW sb.1 6. Cf. SOW-IRON.] Cast iron in sows or large ingots as it comes from the blasting- or smelting-furnace.
1674. Phil. Trans., XVII. 696. They have of late made it much better than heretofore, by melting the Sow-metal over again.
1746. Brit. Mag., 96. The Nucleus Ferri, Sow-metal or liquid Iron.
1761. Ann. Reg., I. 73/2. His new-invented method of making malleable iron from pig or sow metal.
1839. Penny Cycl., XIII. 33/2. The names of sow-metal and pig-metal, which … signify … the blocks of iron which are formed in the large main channels, and … the smaller blocks which are formed in smaller side channels.
attrib. 1676. in Jrnl. Friends’ Hist. Soc., V. 14. The officers took one mare, and his stithy, and sowmettell pot.
1888. R. Leader, in Addy, Sheffield Gloss., s.v., The very commonest knives made of it are called sow-metal gudgeons.
