stainless steel


noun
  1. alloy steel containing 12 percent or more chromium, so as to be resistant to rust and attack from various chemicals.

Origin of stainless steel

1
First recorded in 1915–20

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stainless steel in a sentence

  • Swanson reluctantly followed him through the tangled aisles of stainless steel columns and tanks.

  • It was a little stainless-steel aerosol canister that looked for all the world like a pepper-spray self-defense unit.

    Little Brother | Cory Doctorow
  • It was strictly hospital all right; sere white and stainless steel as far as my esper could reach.

    Highways in Hiding | George Oliver Smith
  • So far as I could see, I was as useless to either side as a coat of protective paint laid on stainless steel.

    Highways in Hiding | George Oliver Smith
  • Inside the measuring cup is a chrome or stainless steel dish, fitting the sides of the cup very tightly.

    The BYU Solar Cooker/Cooler | Steven E. Jones

British Dictionary definitions for stainless steel

stainless steel

noun
    • a type of steel resistant to corrosion as a result of the presence of large amounts of chromium (12–15 per cent). The carbon content depends on the application, being 0.2–0.4 per cent for steel used in cutlery, etc, and about 1 per cent for use in scalpels and razor blades

    • (as modifier): stainless-steel cutlery

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for stainless steel

stainless steel

[ stānlĭs ]


  1. Any of various alloys of iron that contain chromium, nickel, and small amounts of carbon. They may also contain minor amounts of other elements, such as molybdenum. Stainless steel is resistant to rusting and corrosion.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.