# steel

Pronunciation: say "STEEL" /stiːl/

## Noun

1. A manufactured metal made from iron, harder and more elastic than iron itself.
   - Simple: A hard, strong metal made from iron, used for tools, buildings, and machines.
   - _Engineers chose steel for its mix of strength and flexibility._
   - _The mill produces thousands of tons of steel every year._
5. Extreme hardness or toughness, especially of character; unyielding resilience.
   - Simple: Great inner strength that keeps someone strong under pressure.
   - _There was steel in her voice when she refused to back down._
   - _Surviving those years took a quiet steel few people noticed._
7. A gray hue resembling the color of the metal; steel-gray or steel-blue.
   - Simple: A bluish-gray color, like the surface of polished metal.
   - _She chose a cool steel for the kitchen cabinets._
   - _Under the cloudy sky the river turned a dull steel._
8. Bladed or pointed weapons such as swords, javelins, and daggers, considered collectively.
   - Simple: Swords, knives, and other sharp weapons, taken together.
   - _The enemy charged, and cold steel flashed in the moonlight._
   - _He chose to answer the insult with steel rather than words._
9. A rod-shaped tool used to sharpen or hone the edges of metal blades.
   - Simple: A metal rod used to straighten and sharpen the edges of knives.
   - _The chef ran the blade along a steel before carving the roast._
   - _Grandpa kept a worn steel hanging beside the cutting board._
11. Protective armor made of metal, worn in combat.
   - Simple: Metal body armor worn for protection in battle.
   - _Clad in steel from head to toe, the knight rode onto the field._
   - _No arrow could pierce the rider's steel._
14. Strips or pieces of metal used to stiffen, support, or shape a garment.
   - Simple: Thin metal strips sewn into clothing to give it shape or support.
   - _The corset's steel kept her posture rigid all evening._
   - _The dressmaker slid lengths of steel into the bodice seams._
16. Projectiles made of metal, such as bullets or shot.
   - Simple: Metal bullets, shot, or other things fired as weapons.
   - _The cannon poured steel onto the advancing line._
   - _They rained steel down on the fortress walls._
17. A shaped piece of hardened metal struck against flint to produce sparks for kindling a fire.
   - Simple: A small metal tool struck against flint to make sparks for lighting a fire.
   - _A traveler could raise a flame in seconds with flint and steel._
   - _He drew the steel sharply down the flint and blew the spark into the dry moss._

## Adjective

2. Constructed or formed out of steel.
   - Simple: Made out of steel.
   - _The architect specified steel beams throughout the building._
   - _They installed a heavy steel door at the entrance._
3. Relating to the manufacture of or trade in steel.
   - Simple: Having to do with making or selling steel.
   - _The steel sector faced steep tariffs that year._
   - _Her grandfather was a steel executive in Pittsburgh._
4. Resembling steel in color, strength, or hardness.
   - Simple: Looking or feeling like steel: cold, gray, hard, or very strong.
   - _He faced the angry crowd with steel nerves._
   - _The lake lay still beneath a steel sky._
15. Engraved on a steel plate, as a printed illustration or image.
   - Simple: Printed from a picture cut into a steel plate.
   - _The volume was illustrated with delicate steel engravings throughout._
   - _Print collectors still seek the steel portraits of Victorian authors._

## Verb

6. To harden or strengthen, especially to give a person nerve, to make the heart unyielding, or to brace someone against something.
   - Simple: To make yourself or someone strong and hard inside, ready to face or resist something.
   - _Soldiers steel themselves for the coming battle._
   - _She steeled her heart against his pleas._
10. To sharpen a blade by drawing it along a honing steel.
   - Simple: To run a knife along a metal rod to make its edge sharp.
   - _She steeled the dull cleaver before the dinner rush._
   - _Good cooks steel their knives several times a day._
12. To fit, cover, edge, tip, or back an object with steel, especially to harden or reinforce it.
   - Simple: To add steel to something, such as the edge of a tool, to make it harder or stronger.
   - _Smiths would steel the cutting edge of each tool before tempering it._
   - _The workshop steeled the chisel points so they held an edge longer._
13. To convert iron into steel, typically by adjusting its carbon content and heat-treating it.
   - Simple: To turn iron into steel by adding carbon and treating it with heat.
   - _Few early forges could steel iron with any consistency._
   - _The cementation process steeled the bars over several days._
18. To lend something the hard, gray, gleaming look of steel. *(literary)*
   - Simple: To make something look like steel, with a hard gray shine.
   - _On winter afternoons the low light can steel the surface of the quiet lake._
   - _Dusk steeled the river until it lay like a band of gray metal._

## Noun

19. The taking of iron as a remedy, especially iron-rich mineral water or iron-treated drink swallowed to treat illness. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Iron, or water treated with iron, swallowed long ago as a medicine.

## Adjective

20. Of a tonic or mineral water, containing dissolved iron or steel as its active ingredient. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Containing iron or steel, as an old medicine or mineral water once did.

## Verb

21. To treat a liquid with iron or steel to give it medicinal properties. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To add iron to a drink so it can be used as an old-time medicine.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A handheld bar used as a slide to stop the strings while playing the steel guitar.
- (noun) A hardened metal plate engraved with a design and used to print many impressions of an image.
- (verb) To electroplate an object, especially a copper engraving plate, with a thin protective layer of iron.
- (noun) Beads or ornamental trim of polished steel, used to decorate garments and accessories.
- (noun) A needle for sewing or knitting, or a sharp metal stylus.
- (noun) A flatiron; a heavy metal implement heated and used to press wrinkles from cloth.
- (verb) To press cloth with a flatiron in order to smooth out creases.

## Origin

*stak-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to stay, to be firm," led to a root *stah- or *stag- ("to be firm, rigid") and then to Proto-Germanic *stahlą. In Proto-West Germanic, *stahl ("steel") was enlarged to *stahlī ("something made of steel"). This became Old English stīele and later Middle English stele.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/steel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).