steelie
1 Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of steelie1
First recorded in 1920–25; steel + -ie
Origin of steelie2
First recorded in 1920–25; steel(head) + -ie
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 former commissioner became known as “Steelie Neelie” for taking on former state-owned energy companies, as well as multinationals including Microsoft.
From The Guardian
Steelie partisans like the corkscrews and loop-the-loops made possible by the coasters’ bent-pipe architecture.
From Time
But the ride has the swiftness and hairpin turns of a steelie.
From New York Times
But winter-from December to March-is the steelie's time to swing.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ordinary rainbows generally eat flies; the steelie -assuming it is in the mood-eats hardware: spoons, wobblers, plugs, strings of red beads, or just about anything else an imaginative fisherman happens to tie to his hook.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.