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Showing results for steel wool. Search instead for heel tool.

steel wool

American  

noun

  1. a tangled or matted mass of stringlike steel shavings, used for scouring, polishing, smoothing, etc.


steel wool British  

noun

  1. a tangled or woven mass of fine steel fibres, used for cleaning or polishing

"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

Etymology

Origin of steel wool

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Maintenance is straightforward: The pan is dishwasher safe, metal utensil-friendly and can handle steel wool.

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 24, 2025

Work stubborn areas with steel wool and wipe them with a rag.

From Seattle Times Jun. 3, 2024

His Jewish Cuban father owned a steel wool factory; his mother, a Jewish Romanian, narrowly survived the Holocaust when her family caught one of the last ships to Cuba.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 8, 2024

Shards of steel wool can break off and become lodged in the grain lines.

From Washington Post Aug. 22, 2022

She fixes them up with paint and collage and steel wool stuck on at appropriate places.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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