What does "steel" mean?
An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.
Steel
/stiːl/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.
- Grammar: steel is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adamant, alloy, animate, anneal.
- Useful contrasts: bare, brick, bright.
- Usage evidence: Your name was given to us by Mr. Hayashi of Keiyo Steel Corporation.
How to use "steel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "steel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "steel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "steel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "steel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "steel" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adamant" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "steel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness. countable, uncountable
"Ocearium stæli."
- 2 knife sharpener consisting of a ridged steel rod wordnet
- 3 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; Bladed or pointed weapons, as swords, javelins, daggers. countable, uncountable
"For heom ne may halter ne bridel Bringe from here wode wyse, Ne mon mid stele ne mid ire."
- 4 a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard wordnet
- 5 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; A piece used for striking sparks from flint. countable, uncountable
"Of ston mid stel in ðe tunder wel to brennen one ðis wunder."
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range wordnet
- 7 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; Armor. countable, uncountable
"Þai gun hem boþe armi In iren and stiel þat tide."
- 8 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; A honing steel, a tool used to sharpen or hone metal blades. countable, uncountable
"The steill to scherp the schawing jrne."
- 9 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; Pieces used to strengthen, support, or expand an item of clothing. countable, uncountable
"I haue a ruffe is a quarter deep, measured by the yeard... You haue a pretty set too, how big is the steele you set with?"
- 10 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; A flat iron. countable, dialectal, uncountable
"One of them having occasion to use a Steele, smoothing Iron, or some such kinde of Laundry Instrument."
- 11 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; A sewing needle; a knitting needle; a sharp metal stylus. countable, dialectal, uncountable
"The threaded steel...Flies swiftly."
- 12 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; An engraving plate. countable, uncountable
"A re-issue of the Examples of the Architecture of Venice. By John Ruskin... With the Text, and the 16 Plates (10 Steels and 6 Lithographs) as originally published."
- 13 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; Projectiles. countable, uncountable
"The crews at the port batteries were pumping steel at the enemy."
- 14 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; A fringe of beads or decoration of this metal. countable, uncountable
"A trailing skirt embroidered in what is termed fine steel."
- 15 Any item made of this metal, particularly including:; A type of slide used while playing the steel guitar. countable, uncountable
- 16 Medicinal consumption of this metal; chalybeate medicine; (eventually) any iron or iron-treated water consumed as a medical treatment. obsolete, uncountable
"A stronger physick is now necessary, perhaps a whole course of steel: A physick, God knowes, that this Kingdome hath been under five or six yeares."
- 17 The gray hue of this metal; steel-gray, or steel blue. uncountable
"Falkenhayn gave...to Jane a steel glacé silk dress."
- 18 Extreme hardness or resilience. countable, figuratively, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel.; To edge, cover, or point with steel. literally, transitive
"Hure þolien ant a beoren hare unirude duntes wið mealles istelet."
- 2 cover, plate, or edge with steel wordnet
- 3 To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel.; To back with steel. literally, obsolete, transitive
"Nay, a Crystall glasse will not show a man his face, except it be steeled, except it be darkned on the backside."
- 4 get ready for something difficult or unpleasant wordnet
- 5 To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel.; To treat a liquid with steel for medicinal purposes. literally, obsolete, transitive
"She drunk her drink steeled, with which she was cured."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel.; To electroplate an item (particularly an engraving plate) with a layer of iron. literally, transitive
"My large dry-point,...called Two Stumps of Driftwood, gave 1000 copies (after being steeled) without perceptible wearing."
- 7 To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel.; To sharpen with a honing steel. literally, transitive
- 8 To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel.; To steelify; to turn iron into steel. literally, transitive
"By passing an electric current thus through the bars the operation of steeling is much hastened."
- 9 To cause to resemble steel.; To harden or strengthen; to nerve or make obdurate; to fortify against. figuratively, transitive
"But stil he was so steelde With heart so good, as victor he dead left them in the field."
- 10 To cause to resemble steel.; To give (something) the appearance of steel. figuratively, literary, poetic, transitive
"And lo! those waters, steeled By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield A vivid repetition of the stars."
- 11 To press with a flat iron. dialectal, transitive
"Tha hasn't tha Sense to stile thy own Dressing."
Adjective
- 1 Made of steel. not-comparable
"Strained in stel ger on steedes of might."
- 2 Similar to steel in color, strength, or the like; steely. not-comparable
"Wher neuer cessing soyle doth steelebright stuff send out from mines."
- 3 Of or belonging to the manufacture or trade in steel. not-comparable
"[T]he discoverie of the yron and steele mines."
- 4 Containing steel. not-comparable, obsolete
"To mix some Sugar of steel, or steel wine with the first glass."
- 5 Engraved on steel. not-comparable
"The best picture I have had yet is the steel frontis-piece to my new book."
Proper Noun
- 1 Coldbath Fields Prison in London, closed in 1877. UK, obsolete, slang, transitive
"I was lugged before the beak, who gave me six doss in the steel. [...] six months in the Bastille (the old House of Corrections), Coldbath Fields."
- 2 A surname.
- 3 Bridewell Prison in London, England. UK, historical, obsolete, slang
Example
"Your name was given to us by Mr. Hayashi of Keiyo Steel Corporation."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "steel"?
Common synonyms include: adamant, alloy, animate, anneal, arm, armor.
How do you use "steel" in a sentence?
Your name was given to us by Mr. Hayashi of Keiyo Steel Corporation.
How do you pronounce "steel"?
Pronounced /stiːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English stele, stel, from Old English stīele, from Proto-West Germanic *stahlī (“something made of steel”), enlargement of *stahl (“steel”), from Proto-Germanic *stahlą, from *stah- or *stag- (“to be firm, rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stay, to be firm”). Compare Scots stele, Yola stehli, German Stahl, Dutch staal.
Etymology 2
From French Bastille (a French prison).
Etymology 3
From Bastille.