pig iron

noun

iron tapped from a blast furnace and cast into pigs in preparation for conversion into steel, cast iron, or wrought iron.

iron in the chemical state in which it exists when tapped from the blast furnace, without alloying or refinement.

Origin

1655-65

Examples from the web for pig iron

There are plans to build a pig iron plant on, or near, this property.
Coke and iron, the raw materials, were combined in a blast furnace to make liquid pig iron.
The blast furnace product is usually referred to as pig iron.
They are improving the quality of the steel they make by melting pig iron along with the scrap.
The remainder is poured into molds to produce pig iron.
pig iron production also is concentrated in a few countries.
pig iron is then produced by heating the coke, iron ore, and limestone in a blast furnace.
These comparisons are exclusive of silvery pig iron, statistics for which were not published to avoid disclosing proprietary data.
pig iron was produced in a blast furnace fueled by charcoal which was manufactured on site.
The facility will use a rotary hearth furnace for the production of impure zinc concentrate and pig iron.

British Dictionary definitions for pig iron

noun

crude iron produced in a blast furnace and poured into moulds in preparation for making wrought iron, steels, alloys, etc

Word Origin and History for pig iron

1660s; see pig (n.) + iron (n.).