The Collaborative International Dictionary
Steel \Steel\ (st[=e]l), n. [AS. st[=e]l, st[=y]l, st[=y]le; akin to D. staal, G. stahl, OHG. stahal, Icel. st[=a]l, Dan. staal, Sw. st[*a]l, Old Prussian stakla.]
(Metal) A variety of iron intermediate in composition and properties between wrought iron and cast iron (containing between one half of one per cent and one and a half per cent of carbon), and consisting of an alloy of iron with an iron carbide. Steel, unlike wrought iron, can be tempered, and retains magnetism. Its malleability decreases, and fusibility increases, with an increase in carbon.
-
An instrument or implement made of steel; as:
-
A weapon, as a sword, dagger, etc. ``Brave Macbeth . . . with his brandished steel.''
--Shak.While doubting thus he stood, Received the steel bathed in his brother's blood.
--Dryden. An instrument of steel (usually a round rod) for sharpening knives.
A piece of steel for striking sparks from flint.
-
Fig.: Anything of extreme hardness; that which is characterized by sternness or rigor. ``Heads of steel.''
--Johnson. ``Manhood's heart of steel.''
--Byron.-
(Med.) A chalybeate medicine. --Dunglison. Note: Steel is often used in the formation of compounds, generally of obvious meaning; as, steel-clad, steel-girt, steel-hearted, steel-plated, steel-pointed, etc. Bessemer steel (Metal.) See in the Vocabulary. Blister steel. (Metal.) See under Blister. Cast steel (Metal.), a fine variety of steel, originally made by smelting blister or cementation steel; hence, ordinarily, steel of any process of production when remelted and cast. Chrome steel, Chromium steel (Metal.), a hard, tenacious variety containing a little chromium, and somewhat resembling tungsten steel. Mild steel (Metal.), a kind of steel having a lower proportion of carbon than ordinary steel, rendering it softer and more malleable. Puddled steel (Metal.), a variety of steel produced from cast iron by the puddling process. Steel duck (Zo["o]l.), the goosander, or merganser. [Prov. Eng.] Steel mill.
(Firearms) See Wheel lock, under Wheel.
A mill which has steel grinding surfaces.
-
A mill where steel is manufactured.
Steel trap, a trap for catching wild animals. It consists of two iron jaws, which close by means of a powerful steel spring when the animal disturbs the catch, or tongue, by which they are kept open.
Steel wine, wine, usually sherry, in which steel filings have been placed for a considerable time, -- used as a medicine.
Tincture of steel (Med.), an alcoholic solution of the chloride of iron.
Tungsten steel (Metal.), a variety of steel containing a small amount of tungsten, and noted for its tenacity and hardness, as well as for its malleability and tempering qualities. It is also noted for its magnetic properties.
WordNet
n. steel containing chromium that makes it resistant to corrosion [syn: stainless steel]
Usage examples of "chromium steel".
Among the colors of a picture post card, the car's hood looked like the work of a jeweler, with the sun sparkling on its chromium steel, and its black enamel reflecting the sky.
It seemed to the railroad men that these persons merely stopped and looked at that small, low door of chromium steel.
His intensely dynamic personality fairly radiated blueness-not the gentle blue of an Earthly sky, not the sweetly innocuous blue of an Earthly flower, but the keenly merciless blue of a delta-ray, the cold and bitter blue of a Polar iceberg, the unyielding, inflexible blue of quenched and drawn tungsten-chromium steel.
It was a much brighter room with cream walls and a red carpet and a big green and chromium steel desk that was littered with Press clippings, mostly from French newspapers.
Humans didn't turn out good chromium steel until, oh, the last century and a half or so before space flight, I think.
A double-locked chromium steel and wire-reinforced glass door, opened on pneumatic seals by a pair of mud-eyed guards with pistols prominently displayed on their hips.
Most of the lower half of the face had been burned away, leaving a sooty residue on what looked like chromium steel alloy that had been burned bare and shiny in spots.
Horses are made of chromium steel And little fat men shall ride them.