steel.
An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.
Meaning & usage
An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: Bladed or pointed weapons, as swords, javelins, daggers.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: A piece used for striking sparks from flint or ferrocerium.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: Armor.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: A honing steel, a tool used to sharpen or hone metal blades.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: Pieces used to strengthen, support, or expand an item of clothing.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: A flat iron.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: A sewing needle; a knitting needle; a sharp metal stylus.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: An engraving plate.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: Projectiles.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: A fringe of beads or decoration of this metal.
Any item made of this metal, particularly including: A type of slide used while playing the steel guitar.
Medicinal consumption of this metal; chalybeate medicine; (eventually) any iron or iron-treated water consumed as a medical treatment.
The gray hue of this metal; steel-gray, or steel blue.
Extreme hardness or resilience.
Where this word comes from
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, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish stål.
Made of steel.
Similar to steel in color, strength, or the like; steely.
Of or belonging to the manufacture or trade in steel.
Containing steel.
Engraved on steel.
Where this word comes from
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, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish stål.
To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel. To edge, cover, or point with steel.
To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel. To back with steel.
To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel. To treat a liquid with steel for medicinal purposes.
To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel. To electroplate an item (particularly an engraving plate) with a layer of iron.
To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel. To sharpen with a honing steel.
To treat, furnish with, or transform into steel. To steelify; to turn iron into steel.
To cause to resemble steel. To harden or strengthen; to nerve or make obdurate; to fortify against.
To cause to resemble steel. To give (something) the appearance of steel.
To press with a flat iron.
Where this word comes from
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, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish stål.
Coldbath Fields Prison in London, closed in 1877.
Where this word comes from
From French Bastille (a French prison).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.