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steel

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

steel
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstil

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. countable

    Any item made of this metal, particularly including

  2. countableuncountable

    An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.

  3. Bladed or pointed weapons, as swords, javelins, daggers.

  4. A piece used for striking sparks from flint.

  5. A honing steel, a tool used to sharpen or hone metal blades.

  6. figurative

    Extreme hardness or resilience.

adjective

  1. Made of steel.

  2. Similar to steel in color, strength, or the like; steely.

verb

  1. To electroplate an item (particularly an engraving plate) with a layer of iron.

  2. To harden or strengthen; to nerve or make obdurate; to fortify against.

  3. Cover, plate, or edge with steel

  4. To edge, cover, or point with steel.

  5. To sharpen with a honing steel.

  6. To steelify; to turn iron into steel.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.

Used this way, steel is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use steel

  • “The bridge is constructed from strong, durable steel beams.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Item

steel industry

Artificial

steel production

Honing

stainless steel

Alloy

carbon steel

Other combinations

steel companymild steelstructural steelsteel plant

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • steel engravingnounCompound term

    An impression taken from an engraved steel plate.

  • steel factorynounCompound term

    A factory where steel is made.

  • steel graynounCompound term

    Slightly purplish or bluish dark grey.

  • steel greynounCompound term

    Slightly purplish or bluish dark grey.

  • steel guitarnounCompound term

    Guitar whose steel strings are twanged while being pressed with a movable steel bar for a glissando effect.

  • steel industrynounCompound term

    The industry that makes steel and steel products.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.