steel band

American

noun

Music.

a band, native to Trinidad and common in the West Indies, using steel drums cut to various heights and tuned to specific pitches.

steel band British

noun

music a type of instrumental band, popular in the Caribbean Islands, consisting mainly of tuned percussion instruments made chiefly from the heads of oil drums, hammered or embossed to obtain different notes

"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 band

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

The party got started on Saturday night with a steel band competition and continues across Sunday and Monday.

From BBC

He joined the school as a steel band teacher in 1983, having previously studied there from the age of 11.

From BBC

The Luton International Carnival brought steel band entertainment, arts and crafts and children's storytelling to the town centre.

From BBC

“That’s how I got started as a composer,” Akiho says, “while teaching and arranging for steel bands in Crown Heights and Brooklyn.”

From Seattle Times

He was around 18 years old and helped evacuate people, managed a shelter for two weeks and even provided entertainment to those displaced, playing tenor pan in a steel band at shelters.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023