any of various modified forms of iron, artificially produced, having a carbon content less than that of pig iron and more than that of wrought iron, and having qualities of hardness, elasticity, and strength varying according to composition and heat treatment: generally categorized as having a high, medium, or low-carbon content.
a thing or things made of this metal.
a flat strip of this metal used for stiffening, especially in corsets; stay.
a bar of this metal that has one end formed to hold a bit for driving through rock.
steels,stocks or bonds of companies producing this metal.
a sword.
a rounded rod of ridged steel, fitted with a handle and used especially for sharpening knives.
adjective
pertaining to or made of steel.
like steel in color, hardness, or strength.
verb (used with object)
to fit with steel, as by pointing, edging, or overlaying.
to cause to resemble steel in some way.
to render insensible, inflexible, unyielding, determined, etc.: He steeled himself to perform the dangerous task.
Origin of steel
before 900; (noun) Middle Englishstele,Old English (north) stēle; cognate with Dutchstaal,GermanStahl,Old Norsestāl; (v.) Middle Englishstelen,Old Englishstyled edged with steel, derivative of the noun
Related formssteel·like, adjectivepre·steel, noun, adjectiveCan be confusedstealsteelstele
Danielle, full name Danielle Fernande Schüelein-Steel. born 1950, US writer of romantic fiction
Baron David (Martin Scott). born 1938, British politician; leader of the Liberal Party (1976–88); Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament (1999–2003)
steel
noun
any of various alloys based on iron containing carbon (usually 0.1–1.7 per cent) and often small quantities of other elements such as phosphorus, sulphur, manganese, chromium, and nickel. Steels exhibit a variety of properties, such as strength, machinability, malleability, etc, depending on their composition and the way they have been treated
Old English style, from West Germanic adjective *stakhlijan "made of steel" (cf. Old Saxon stehli, Old Norse, Middle Low German stal, Danish staal, Swedish stål, Middle Dutch stael, Dutch staal, Old High German stahal, German Stahl), related to *stakhla "standing fast," from PIE *stek-lo-, from root *stak- "to stand, place, be firm" (see stay (n.1)). No corresponding word exists outside Germanic except those likely borrowed from Germanic languages. Steel wool is attested from 1896.
steel
v.
"make hard or strong like steel," 1580s, figurative, from steel (n.). Related: Steeled; steeling.
Any of various hard, strong, flexible alloys of iron and carbon. Often, other metals are added to give steel a particular property, such as chromium and nickel to make it stainless. Steel is widely used in many kinds of tools and as a structural material in building.
The First American: Excerpt from Henry Crumpton’s ‘The Art of Intelligence’