steel guitar
Americannoun
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an acoustic, handheld guitar having a metal resonator and producing a wailing, variable sound.
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a pedal steel guitar.
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a Hawaiian guitar.
noun
Etymology
Origin of steel guitar
First recorded in 1925–30
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.
Tammy Wynette had it; just listen to her mourn how “the sun will never shine in Apartment #9” and your ear will catch the throb in her throat that echoes the song’s steel guitar.
From Salon • May 15, 2026
The addition of pedals made steel guitar a country music staple, while blues and jazz musicians adopted the slide guitar, which utilized a similar gliding technique while holding the guitar upright.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024
At first, most of his Hawaiian steel guitar students were adults, Akaka said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024
It wasn’t until he was 14, hearing his older brother play Hawaiian music on his steel guitar at home, that Akaka’s interest in the gliding style was piqued.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024
We stood together, our trio at the corner of the stage, and listened as a steel guitar started off the first song.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
