babbitt : Idioms & Phrases

Index

babbitt metal

  • noun an alloy of tin with some copper and antimony; a lining for bearings that reduces friction
    babbitt.
WordNet
Bab"bitt met`al
Etymology
From the inventor, Isaac Babbitt of Massachusetts.
Definitions
  1. A soft white alloy of variable composition (as a nine parts of tin to one of copper, or of fifty parts of tin to five of antimony and one of copper) used in bearings to diminish friction.
Webster 1913