Refine this word faster
Steel
Definitions
- 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."
- 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
- 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
- 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."
Etymology
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.
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.
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.
From French Bastille (a French prison).
From Bastille.
See also for "steel"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: steel