Definitions for steel
stilsteel

Princeton's WordNet(3.57 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. steelnoun

   an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range

2. sword, blade, brand, steelnoun

   a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard

3. steelverb

   knife sharpener consisting of a ridged steel rod

4. steel, nerveverb

   get ready for something difficult or unpleasant

5. steelverb

   cover, plate, or edge with steel

Wiktionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. steelnoun

   A metal alloy of mostly iron plus carbon, harder than pure elemental iron but malleable when hot.

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

2. steelnoun

   A tool used to sharpen or hone knives; a .

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

3. steelnoun

   A sword.

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

4. steelnoun

   A type of slide used in the practice of steel guitar.

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

5. steelnoun

   Hardness; strength in adversity; mettle.

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

6. steelverb

   To harden.

   The harsh fall weather steeled them against the colder winter.

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

7. steelverb

   To cover with steel

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

8. steelverb

   To hone with a honing steel.

   Etymology: stele, stel, from Old English (North) stele, (South) style, from stahlijan (cf. West Frisian stiel), enlargement of stahlan (cf. staal, Stahl, Danish stål) from stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (cf. Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan ‘strong’, Sanskrit ‘resist, strike against’).

Webster Dictionary(4.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Steelnoun

   a variety of iron intermediate in composition and properties between wrought iron and cast iron (containing between one half of one per cent and one and a half per cent of carbon), and consisting of an alloy of iron with an iron carbide. Steel, unlike wrought iron, can be tempered, and retains magnetism. Its malleability decreases, and fusibility increases, with an increase in carbon

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

2. Steelnoun

   an instrument or implement made of steel

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

3. Steelnoun

   a weapon, as a sword, dagger, etc

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

4. Steelnoun

   an instrument of steel (usually a round rod) for sharpening knives

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

5. Steelnoun

   a piece of steel for striking sparks from flint

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

6. Steelnoun

   fig.: Anything of extreme hardness; that which is characterized by sternness or rigor

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

7. Steelnoun

   a chalybeate medicine

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

8. Steelnoun

   to overlay, point, or edge with steel; as, to steel a razor; to steel an ax

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

9. Steelnoun

   to make hard or strong; hence, to make insensible or obdurate

   Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

10. Steelnoun

    fig.: To cause to resemble steel, as in smoothness, polish, or other qualities

    Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

11. Steelnoun

    to cover, as an electrotype plate, with a thin layer of iron by electrolysis. The iron thus deposited is very hard, like steel

    Etymology: [AS. stlan: cf. Icel. staela. See Steel, n.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Steel

   Steel is an alloy of iron and other elements, including carbon. When carbon is the primary alloying element, its content in the steel is between 0.002% and 2.1% by weight. The following elements are always present in steel: carbon, manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, and traces of oxygen, nitrogen and aluminum. Alloying elements intentionally added to modify the characteristics of steel include: manganese, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, boron, titanium, vanadium and niobium. Carbon and other elements act as a hardening agent, preventing dislocations in the iron atom crystal lattice from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of alloying elements and the form of their presence in the steel controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but such steel is also less ductile than iron. Alloys with a higher than 2.1% carbon are known as cast iron. Because they are not malleable even when hot, they can be worked only by casting, and they have lower melting point and good castability. Steel is also distinguishable from wrought iron, which can contain a small amount of carbon, but it is included in the form of slag inclusions.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Steel

   stēl, n. iron combined in varying proportions with carbon for making edged tools: any instrument or weapon of steel: an instrument of steel for sharpening knives on: a strip of steel for stiffening a corset: a piece of steel for striking fire from a flint: extreme hardness: a chalybeate medicine.—adj. made of steel: hard, unfeeling.—v.t. to overlay or edge with steel: to harden: to make obdurate.—adj. Steel′-clad, clad with steel-mail.—ns. Steel′-engraving, the art of engraving pictures on steel plates from which impressions may be taken, the impression or print so taken; Steel′iness, state of being steely, great hardness; Steel′ing, the welding of a steel edge on a cutting instrument; Steel′-pen, a pen-nib made of steel; Steel′-plate, a plate of steel: a plate of polished steel on which a design is engraved, the print taken from such.—adj. Steel′-plāt′ed, plated with steel.—n.pl. Steel′-toys, small articles of steel as buttons, buckles, &c.—n. Steel′-ware, articles made of steel collectively.—adj. Steel′y, made of steel: steel-like. [A.S. stýle; Ger. stahl.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Steel

   A tough, malleable, iron-based alloy containing up to, but no more than, two percent carbon and often other metals. It is used in medicine and dentistry in implants and instrumentation.

The Standard Electrical Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Steel

   A compound of iron with carbon. The carbon may range from a few hundredths of one per cent. up to two per cent. For magnets, tool steel drawn to a straw color or a little lower is good. All shaping and filing should be done before magnetization.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. steel

   See Ordnance, Metals for.

Rap Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. steelnoun

   Pistol. Finger on the trigger with my hand upon the steel -- Cypress Hill (Hand on the pump), I got a raw deal, so I'm goin' for the steel -- Public Enemy (Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos)

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. steel

   A type of alloy.

   Steel is used across the world for a variety of purposes.

   Submitted by MaryC on January 31, 2020  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. steel

   Song lyrics by steel -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by steel on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Alloy
   • Brace
   • Cover
   • Weapon

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'steel' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2774

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'steel' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2878

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'steel' in Nouns Frequency: #1172

Anagrams for steel »

1. leets

2. teles

3. sleet

4. stele

How to pronounce steel?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say steel in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of steel in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of steel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of steel in a Sentence

1. Jin Tao:

   Since some steel mills have already built up stocks in October, big traders have largely reduced their import orders because they do not see any improvement in prices in a well-supplied market.

2. Iran Trump:

   It is being built, a wall that's lying on the ground in a very important section ... and we build a brand new 30-foot steel and concrete wall.

3. Wang Jianhui:

   If the demand in other countries does not improve, the declining trend in exports will continue, maybe even worsen, on the import side, most infrastructure projects led by the government haven't begun yet, so demand for energy and steel is very low.

4. Donald Trump:

   Let me be very clear, we really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier.

5. Director Kiyoshi Imamura:

   Prices of steel products and semi-finished products have been on the rise globally following a surge in the Chinese steel market, we are receiving lots of interest from buyers from many countries. The trend has completely changed.

Images & Illustrations of steel

Popularity rank by frequency of use