zinc (z?ngk)n. Symbol Zn A bluish-white, lustrous metallic element that is brittle at room temperature but malleable with heating. It is used to form a wide variety of alloys including brass, bronze, various solders, and nickel silver, in galvanizing iron and other metals, for electric fuses, anodes, meter cases and batteries, and in roofing, gutters, and various household objects. US pennies minted after 1982 consist of a copper-clad zinc core. Atomic number 30; atomic weight 65.38; melting point 419.53°C; boiling point 907°C; specific gravity 7.134 (at 25°C); valence 2. See Periodic Table.tr.v. zinced, zinc·ing, zincs or zincked or zinck·ing or zincks To coat or treat with zinc; galvanize.[German Zink, possibly from Zinke, spike (so called because it becomes jagged in the furnace), from Middle High German zinke, from Old High German zinko.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.zinc (z??k) n1. (Elements & Compounds) a brittle bluish-white metallic element that becomes coated with a corrosion-resistant layer in moist air and occurs chiefly in sphalerite and smithsonite. It is a constituent of several alloys, esp brass and nickel-silver, and is used in die-casting, galvanizing metals, and in battery electrodes. Symbol: Zn; atomic no: 30; atomic wt: 65.39; valency: 2; relative density: 7.133; melting pt: 419.58°C; boiling pt: 907°C2. (Metallurgy) informal corrugated galvanized iron[C17: from German Zink, perhaps from Zinke prong, from its jagged appearance in the furnace] ?zincic, ?zincous, ?zincoid adj ?zincky, ?zincy, ?zinky adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014zinc (z??k) n., v. zincked zinced (z??kt) zinck?ing zinc?ing (?z?? k??) n. 1. a ductile, bluish white metallic element: used in making galvanized iron and other alloys, and as an element in voltaic cells. Symbol: Zn; at. wt.: 65.37; at. no.: 30; sp. gr.: 7.14 at 20°C. v.t. 2. to coat or cover with zinc. [1635?45;