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Synonyms

steel guitar

American  

noun

  1. an acoustic, handheld guitar having a metal resonator and producing a wailing, variable sound.

  2. a pedal steel guitar.

  3. a Hawaiian guitar.


steel guitar British  

noun

  1. See Hawaiian guitar pedal steel guitar

"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 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.

At first, most of his Hawaiian steel guitar students were adults, Akaka said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024

But while the steel guitar can still be found in country and other types of music, the Hawaiian steel guitar garners little recognition today, even on the island of Oahu, its birthplace.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024

Indian musicians began adapting their own classical music for steel guitar, and in Africa, the quest to replicate the glissando effect begat a local technique dubbed “Hauyani” after the word “Hawaiian.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024

By the 1940s, people were packing into Shanghai clubs to hear the Hawaiian steel guitar.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024

Line is twanging like the high string on a steel guitar as the fish rises up to the surface, pulling the skiff behind it.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick