stainless steel
- alloy steel containing 12 percent or more chromium, so as to be resistant to rust and attack from various chemicals.
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Origin of stainless steel
First recorded in 1915–20
Also called stainless.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stainless steel
Contemporary Examples
A stainless-steel refrigerator, which normally costs more than five years' worth of Ms Peñaloza's rent, fills the cramped kitchen.
When the last olives have yielded their golden oils, they are left to settle for two weeks in stainless-steel tanks.
Finally, the wine is transferred by bucket to oak barrels or stainless-steel casks.
For the same reason a Hummer had cost a fortune: It comes with spinning hubcaps and stainless-steel grill guards.
I showered and washed my hair… Each dorm had a bathroom with eight showers—vinyl-curtained, stainless-steel stalls.
Historical Examples
There, half hidden behind a row of stainless-steel basin assemblies, was a nine-inch bowl.
FelonyJames Causey
A stainless-steel capsule popped into the transparent wall dock.
The House from NowhereArthur G. Stangland
About fifty feet up he could make out the smooth, stainless-steel connecting ring where the second stage joined the first.
The Scarlet Lake MysteryHarold Leland Goodwin
stainless steel
- 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
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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
Word Origin and History for stainless steel
n.
1917, a chromium-steel alloy (usually 14% chromium) used for cutlery, etc., so called because it is highly resistant to rust or tarnish.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
stainless steel
[stān′lĭs]
- 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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.