Definition of "scrap-iron" [scrap-iron]

• Old iron, as cuttings of plates and other miscellaneous fragments, accumulated for reworking. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "I had a splendid constitution, a stomach that would digest scrap-iron, and"
• "I saw scrap-iron hutments and tiled rooftops the color of autumn leaves, and smoky blue hillsides creased by waterfalls and half-eaten by gray monsoon clouds."
• "In London, Maroussia tried to start a literary career, meeting HG Wells, before finally following her husband to Northern Ireland where he set up a scrap-iron merchants, while she, writing ambitions on hold, taught ballet."