La malléabilité est la raison pour laquelle on peut laminer (rouleau compresseur) un matériau, le forger (martèlement), ou découper facilement une faible épaisseur. L'or, l'argent et le plomb sont des métaux très malléables ou ductiles.

In materials science, ductility is a solid material's ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to be stretched into a wire. Malleability, a similar property, is a material's ability to deform under compressive stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to form a thin sheet by hammering or rolling. Both of these mechanical properties are aspects of plasticity, the extent to which a solid material can be plastically deformed without fracture. Also, these material properties are dependent on temperature and pressure (investigated by Percy Williams Bridgman as part of his Nobel Prize–winning work on high pressures).