iron

blood and iron: seeblood.

clap someone in irons: see clap someone in jail atclap.

have many (or other) irons in the fire have many (or a range of) options or courses of action available or be involved in many activities or commitments at the same time.

☞ Various tools and implements made (or formerly made) of iron are called irons, for example grappling irons or branding irons. The metaphor is of a blacksmith or other worker who heats iron objects in a fire until they reach the critical temperature at which they can be shaped or used.

an iron curtain an impenetrable barrier, especially the Iron Curtain, the physical and other barriers preventing the passage of people and information between the Soviet bloc and the West during the cold war.

☞ In the late 18th century, an iron curtain was literally a fire curtain in a theatre, but the figurative sense was in use from the early 19th century, well before Winston Churchill observed in a speech in March 1946 that 'an iron curtain has descended across the Continent [of Europe]'.

the iron entered into someone's soul someone became deeply and permanently affected by imprisonment or ill-treatment. literary

☞ This expression comes from a phrase in the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, ferrum pertransit animam ejus, a mistranslation of the Hebrew which literally translates as 'his person entered into the iron', meaning 'he was placed in fetters'.

an iron hand (or fist) in a velvet glove firmness or ruthlessness masked by outward gentleness.

iron out the wrinkles resolve all minor difficulties and snags.

☞ Iron out has been in figurative use since the mid 19th century; it often occurs with other nouns, especially differences.

1984New Yorker Willa had sold her story to Universal Pictures and was in California ironing out some wrinkles in the deal.

pump iron: seepump.

rule someone or something with a rod of iron: seerod.

strike while the iron is hot: seestrike.