| 释义 |
▪ I. steel, n.1|stiːl|
Forms: 1 stǽli, steeli, stéli, stýle, 3–4 stel (3 pl. stelen), 3–5 stiel, 3–6 stele, 4 styl, Sc. steile, 4–5 steell, style, 4–6 stile, Sc. steill, 5 steille, stelle, steyle, stiell, 5–6 stell, steyll, still, 6 steelle, steil, stiele, (steiele,) 6–7 steele, 4– steel.
[OE. stýle neut., earlier stǽli = OS. stehli (Gallée), OFris. *stêl (whence stêlen made of steel; WFris. stiel, NFris. stel, stial):—OTeut. type *staχljo-m (literally, something made of steel, but in OE. also used for the metal itself, as in late L. aciārium superseded aciēs):—f. OTeut. *staχlo- steel, represented by MLG. stâl, MDu. stael (mod.Du. staal neut.), OHG. stahal (MHG. stahel neut., masc., mod.G. stahl masc.), ON. stál neut. (Sw. stål; Da. staal). Outside Teut. no corresponding word has been found; the OPrussian stakla steel is prob. adopted from Teut. with sound-substitution. The root appears to be Teut. *staχ-: *stag- (:—pre-Teut. *stak-) to be firm or rigid: see stay n.1]
I.
1. a. A general name for certain artificially produced varieties of iron, distinguished from those known as ‘iron’ by certain physical properties, esp. greater hardness and elasticity, which render them suitable as material for cutting instruments, and for various other industrial purposes.
Chemically steel is a nearly pure iron, the proportion of other substances varying from less than 1 to 3 per cent. Formerly ‘steel’ could be defined as containing more carbon than wrought iron, and less than cast iron; but since about 1860 the name has been extended to certain products containing very little carbon. With a few exceptions the term is now usu. restricted to iron alloys containing not more than 1·7% carbon.
Beowulf 985 Wæs steda næᵹla ᵹehwylc style ᵹelicost. c725Corpus Gloss. 1431 Ocearium stæli. c825Epinal Gloss. 49 Accearium steeli. c1205Lay. 25814 Hælm an his hafde hehne of stele. a1225Ancr. R. 160 Vor ne beo neuer so briht gold, ne seoluer, ne iren, ne stel, þet hit ne schal drawen rust of on þet is irusted. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 460/130 Wit strongue dores of Ire and stiel. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 946 Iren was ther noon ne steell For al was golde. c1380Sir Ferumb. 3313 Grete slabbes of styl & yre to þe walles þo wern y-slente. 1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 171 Now bere and bacon bene fro Pruse ibroughte Into Fflaundres,..Osmonde, coppre, bow-staffes, stile, and wex. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 232 b, An hammer of golde is..more worth than is a hammer of stele, yet y⊇ hammer of stele is more profytable. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 118 He now doubteth not but to find you..as sure to hym as the Adamant to the stele. 1549Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IX. 347 Item, for foure punde steill deliverit to Schir Williame Makdougall, price of the punde xx d.; summa vj s. viij d. 1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 34 b, Take two flynt stones and a pece of stile. 1583Rates Custom Ho. D ij, Looking glasses of Steel. 1601Holland Pliny xxxiv. xiv. II. 514 The purest part thereof [sc. of iron ore] which in Latine is called Nucleus ferri, i. the kernell or heart of the yron (and it is that which we call steele). 1611Bible Jer. xv. 12 Shall yron breake the Northren yron, and the steele? 1626Bacon Sylva §874 A Looking-Glasse with the Steele behinde, looketh Whiter, than Glasse Simple. a1661Fuller Worthies, Glouc. (1662) 349 Steele..is Eldest Brother of Iron, extracted from the same Oare, differing from it not in kind, but degree of purity, as being the first running thereof. It is more hard and brittle (whilest Iron is softer and tougher). 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 179 Its point is made of tempered Steel. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 390 Steel is usually made by a process called cementation, which consists in keeping bars of iron in contact with powdered charcoal in a state of ignition for 10 to 12 days. 1823W. Phillips Min. (ed. 3) 214 It is also said that pseudo-volcanic steel..was found a league and a half from Neiss. 1866G. Ede Managem. Steel (ed. 4) ii. 15 Steel is a compound of iron and carbon... The carbon rarely exceeds two per cent. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 355 Spathose pig-iron can be converted into steel without any intermediate processes. 1890Nature 20 Nov. 51 The old definition of steel, i.e. a compound of iron and carbon, is as true as ever, when applied..to tools with cutting edges &c... The Bessemer product cannot in this sense be termed steel at all. 1895E. L. Rhead Metallurgy xi. 137 Steel proper contains from 0·5 to 1·5 or 1·7 per cent. of carbon. 1946Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) VII. 47/1 Steel may be roughly defined as an alloy of iron and carbon containing up to 1·7% carbon, all of the carbon being in the combined condition. A second definition, distinguishing it from cast or wrought iron, is that it has been produced in the molten condition, and a third states that steel can be hardened by quenching from a suitably high temperature. There are..certain exceptions to all these definitions. 1967A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xi. 135 At present, about 80 per cent of steel in Britain is made by the open hearth process. 1976Sci. Amer. July 68/2 For the iron to be made into steel (defined as iron with a carefully controlled carbon content of 1·7 percent or less) the sulfur, the silicon and the excess carbon must be removed. 1983Steel Times Aug. 424/1 Even in the mildest of mild steels, with a carbon content of not more than 0·2% carbon, some other elements are present.
b. A particular variety or sort of steel.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1172 The bars are exposed to two or three successive processes of cementation, and are hence said to be twice or thrice converted into steels. 1891Daily News 14 Dec. 2/6 Fair orders for self-hardening and other special steels are coming in. 1898Ibid. 25 Apr. 9/4 A steady business is being done in all kinds of Swedish steels.
c. with defining attribute: see also bessemer-, blister- (n. 4), cast (ppl. a. 8), tool- (n. 5) steel; shear-steel.
1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 390 Cemented steel is made into the substance called cast steel by being fused in a close crucible with a mixture of powdered glass and charcoal. 1822J. Imison Sci. & Art II. 107 Steel of cementation. Ibid., Natural steel is made by keeping cast iron in a state of fusion in a furnace. 1858Greener Gunnery 129 Mr. Armstrong may..lay claim to being an originator of wrought steel cannon;..to Mr. Krupp is due the honour of first introducing cast steel cannon to the notice of our Government. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 406/1 Firth's Steel, the steel used in the manufacture of the tube of British rifled guns. 1892Greener Breech-loader 12 The alloys of iron, manganese steel, nickel steel, aluminium steel,..are not yet made of such uniform quality as will admit of their adoption by gun-makers of reputation. 1900Engineering Mag. XIX. 766/1 The use of concrete and of concrete steel for dry-dock work. 1902Westm. Gaz. 24 July 8/1 The hull..is built of chrome steel.
¶d. Applied (after It. acciaio; cf. steel glass 2) to: An alloy of tin and copper used for making optical ‘spheres’. Obs. rare.
1662Merrett Neri's Art Glass cxiii. 166.
e. The name of a cold shade of grey resembling the colour of steel; steel-grey. Also as adj.
1851E. Ruskin Let. 28 Dec. in M. Lutyens Effie in Venice (1965) ii. 236 Falkenhayn gave..to Jane a steel glacé silk dress. 1881[see Burgundy 2 d]. 1895Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 9/2 Chambray mixtures in steel or blue with narrow white stripes. 1914[see beaver1 2 c]. 1925in M. & N. Ward Home in Twenties & Thirties (1978) 39 Maids' morning dresses of strong washing gingham..in blue, grey, butcher, or steel.
2. a. Similative and figurative uses, in which steel is taken as the type of hardness.
c1205Lay. 25879 Þe alle þine leomen wule to-draȝen Þeh þu weore stel al. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3956 Þey my tonge were of stel, me ssolde noȝt dure þer to. a1300Cursor M. 4297 Þof his hert al stillen were, Hert o stele and bodi o brass. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xvi. (Magd.) 408 Weman..with wordis cane rycht wele our-cum mene hard as stele. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. iv. 33 Like a man of Steele. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Sacrifice liii, He would not cease to kneel, Till all were melted, though he were all steel. 1772Gentl. Mag. Mar. 149/2 A lawless set of levellers in the North of Ireland, called Hearts of Steel, attacked the house of Richard Johnson, Esq. 1849Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xiii. (1866) 216 The heart of steel which beat beneath the Roman's robe. 1853Ibid. Ser. iv. xvii. (1876) 222 We have steel and nerve enough in our hearts to dare anything.
b. Phrase, true as steel (said of persons, rarely of things, statements, etc.). Also, † steel to the (very) back: thoroughly robust; thoroughly trustworthy.
a1300Siriz 95 in Anecd. Lit. (1844) 5 Oure love is also trewe as stel, Withouten wou. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4864 Tristiloker þan ony stel. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 334 That ben as trewe as euer was any steel. 1589Nashe Martin Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 174 Report it of my word; for it is as true as steele. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abington (Percy Soc.) 41, I promise ye, maister Philip, you haue spoken as true as steele. 1705Dunton Life & Err. 244 He's as true as Steell to his Word. 1862Mrs. Houston Recomm. Mercy iv, True as steel to the man to whom she had sworn to be faithful unto death.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. iii. 47 We are..No big-bon'd men, fram'd of the Cyclops size, But mettall Marcus, steele to the very backe. 1600Holland Livy xxxix. xl. 1050 His bodie was steele to the verie backe [L. ferrei prope corporis]. 1603Chettle etc. Grissill ii. C 1 b, Hee's Steele to the backe you see, for he writes Challenges. 1635Heywood Philocoth. 44 One that is steele to the backe. [Here euphemistically of a drunkard.]
c. Sport. Power of endurance or sustained effort.
1850Smedley Frank Fairlegh xxxi. 256 The horses are in first-rate condition..till they've done about ten miles; that takes the steel out of them a bit. 1891Daily News 8 July 8/3 The Oxonians struggled on pluckily, but the steel was taken all out of them by this time. 1897W. H. Thornton Reminisc. W.-Co. Clergyman vii. 233 All the steel and energy had left me.
3. a. Steel in the form of weapons or cutting tools (occas. spurs, a trap, etc.). Hence in particularized use, † a sword, lance, bayonet, or the like.
a1000Riddles xciii. 18 Blod ut ne com, heolfor of hreþre, þeah mec heard bite stiðecᵹ style. c1205Lay. 9799 Helmes þer gullen stercliche to-stopen mid steles egge. Ibid. 19503 Mid bitele stelen. c1250Owl & Night. 1030 For heom ne may halter ne bridel Bringe from here wode wyse, Ne mon mid stele ne mid ire. 1581A. Hall Iliad viii. 143 He with these words doth plucke his bow, & sends his piercing steele, To Hector straight. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 59 Euery man that Bullingbroke hath prest, To lift shrewd steele against our Golden Crowne. 1597J. Payne Royal Exch. 23 Yt ys as a rustie cancker eatinge throw without recoverie by eyther gentle oyle or the hard stele. 1602tr. Guarini's Pastor Fido iv. iii. L 2 b, Mirtillo..throwes his Dart, thinking to wound Nicander: And had the steele hit as he did direct, Nicander had been slaine. 1712Shaftesbury Charac. (1733) III. 115 But who wou'd dream that out of abundant Charity and Brotherly Love shou'd come Steel, Fire, Gibbets, Rods. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 206 By th' indented Steel With Gripe tenacious held, the Felon grins, And struggles, but in vain. 1764Oxf. Sausage 59 Or Groom invade me..whose emaciate Steeds..Had panted oft beneath my goring Steel. 1784Cowper Task iii. 414 No meaner hand may discipline the shoots, None but his steel approach them. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. x, The stern joy which warriors feel In foe⁓men worthy of their steel. 1815Byron Hebrew Mel., Song Saul 4 Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath! 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 139 Grapple her stern and bow. They have asked for the steel. They shall have it now; Out cutlasses and board! 1896Harper's Mag. XCII. 708/1 He trained his soldiers to trust the steel.
b. cold steel: cutting or thrusting weapons.
[Cf. G. kalter stahl; also cold iron (cold a. 1 b, iron n. 6 a) = ON. kalt járn].
1816[see cold a. 1 b]. 1896Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign vi, Nor do they wait for their bayonets:..for though fond of administering cold steel, it is the last thing they wish to meet with themselves.
c. U.S. to draw one's steel: to use one's pistol.
1902Wister Virginian ii, He has handed Trampas the choice to back down or draw his steel.
d. Used for: Steel shot.
1898Westm. Gaz. 1 June 5/1 The crews at the port batteries were pumping steel at the enemy.
4. Steel as the material of defensive armour.
c1320Sir Tristr. 3324 Þai gun hem boþe armi In iren and stiel þat tide. a1400–50Wars Alex. 1378 Þan Alexander all his ane an-ane he ascendis, Closid all in clere stele. c1450in Kingsford Chron. London (1905) 120 Stedes þer stumbelyd in þt stownde þt stood stere stuffed vnder stele. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 200 Weill stuffit in steill, on thair stout stedis. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvii. 81 So stern he wes in steill. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 52 In compleat steele. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 569 Or arm th' obdured brest With stubborn patience as with triple steel. 1842Tennyson Galahad 6 The hard brands shiver on the steel.
fig.1634Milton Comus 421 She that has that [chastity], is clad in compleat steel. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam viii. vii. 9 Though truth and virtue arm their hearts with tenfold steel.
5. As a material for plates engraved with drawings or designs to be reproduced by printing. Hence, as a trade term: A steel engraving.
1843J. Ballantine (title) The Gaberlunzie's Wallet. With numerous illustrations on steel and wood. 1887Athenæum 11 June 779/1 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.
6. a. Iron as used medicinally; chalybeate medicine.
In early practice iron or steel filings were sometimes administered internally; another mode of exhibition was to give the water in which iron or steel had been quenched when red hot, or had been allowed to remain for some days. The ordinary notion was that ‘iron’ and ‘steel’ were different medicines, with similar but not identical therapeutic effect. ‘Steel is now used in untechnical lang. for any chalybeate medicine, perh. especially iron chloride’ (N.E.D.).
1647Hammond Serm. x. Wks. 1683 IV. 535 A stronger physick is now necessary, perhaps a whole course of steel: A physick, God knows, that this Kingdom hath been under five or six years. 1675G. Harvey Dis. Lond. xxiii. 249 Medicines prepared of Steel have their particular uses. 1699Garth Dispens. iv. 58 Some fell by Laudanum, and some by Steel, And Death in ambush lay in ev'ry Pill. 1702J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 159 The only Addition..to be made, is the use of gentle Steel. Strong Steel..will heat too much. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. l, Steel is not so good as Iron for Medicinal Operation. 1706Watts Horæ Lyricæ II. 146 When bark and steel play well their game To save our sinking breath. 1712Swift Jrnl. to Stella 18 Sept., The doctor tells me I must go into a course of steel, though I have not the spleen. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 212 Dropsy..yielded to the stimulus and invigorating powers of steel combined with diuretics. 1866Princess Alice Mem. (1884) 158, I..am really only kept alive by steel. 1898Hutchinson's Arch. Surg. IX. 303 At first iodide of potassium was given, but subsequently steel.
b. † salt of steel: usually, iron chloride (but used also for the sulphate or other salts of iron). flowers of steel: iron chloride prepared by heating steel filings, etc. with sal-ammoniac. † sugar of steel: see sugar n. 3 a. tincture of steel: tincture of iron chloride.
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Vitriol of Mars, or Salt of Steel, is made by dissolving Steel in some proper Acid Menstruum, then Evaporating [etc.]. 1758[R. Dossie] Elaboratory laid open 291 Ens veneris, or flowers of steel. Take, of washed colcothar of green vitriol, or steel filings, one pound, of sal ammoniacum, two pounds [etc.]. 1758E. Wright in Phil. Trans. L. 598 Salt of steel, taken internally, must retain its astringency until it be precipitated. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 45 Plants of barley were poisoned..by salt of steel. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) IV. 465/1 These [crystals] are named salt of steel, and are used in medicine; but for the salt made with the pure acid and iron, the common copperas is commonly substituted. 1818S. F. Gray Suppl. Pharmacop. 267 Tincture of Steel.
7. The steel part of anything.
c1450Merlin vi. 98 The archebisshop lowted to the swerde, and sawgh letteres of golde in the stiel. Ibid. xiv. 222 The stiell of the speres stynte at the haubrekes. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 160 Employeng the steell of his swerd the most best wyse that in hym was possible. 1561Eden tr. Cortes' Art Navig. iii. iv. 63 Whiche shalbe the marke for the settynge of the Irens and Stieles [in making a mariner's compass]. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xxvi, Many a hand's on a richer hilt, But none on a steel more ruddily gilt. 1895Daily News 22 Aug. 6/2 It is far longer in the steel than a common salmon hook, and is a double hook.
8. As the name of various instruments made of steel.
a. A piece of steel shaped for the purpose of striking fire with a flint. † In a pistol or firelock, the piece of steel which is struck by the ‘cock’ carrying the flint.
c1220Bestiary 535 Of ston mid stel in ðe tunder wel to brennen one ðis wunder. 1589[see flint n. 2]. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 47 Or vpon the hammers or steeles, if they be Snap-hances. 1619H. Hutton Follies Anat. B 2 b, Where's your Tobacco box, your steele and touch? 1660Boyle New Exper. Phys.-Mech. xiv. 89 The Cock falling with its wonted violence upon the Steel. 1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3708/3 The Hammer, a Bag, a Pick-Ax, a false Key, and a Steel, were left by the said Murderers. 1833Reg. Instr. Cavalry i. 99 Bring the Carbine..to the priming position, the thumb before the steel. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. vi. vii, Nor will the steel-and-flint answer, though they try it.
b. A rod of steel, fluted or plain, fitted with a handle, used for sharpening table or butchers' knives.
1541Extracts Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 176 The steill to scherp the schawing jrne. 1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Vn Fusil ..the stile of a butcher wherewith he whetteth or sharpeneth his kniues. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 292/2 The Butchers Steel..is his only badg of being a Slaughter-Man. 1758Johnson Idler No. 67 ⁋5 A man whose steel by his side declared him a butcher. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 177/1 A butcher's knife, 1s.; a steel, 1s. 6d. 1894Hall Caine Manxman 186 Cæsar sharpened the carving-knife on the steel.
†c. A steel mirror. Obs. (? nonce-use.)
a1643Cartwright Lady Errant v. iv, The Steels you see your faces in.
d. A flat-iron. Obs. exc. dial.
1638J. Taylor (Water P.) Bull, Bear & Horse (1876) 39 One of them having occasion to use a Steele, smoothing Iron, or some such kinde of Laundry Instrument. 1873Exhibition 67 (E.D.D.) Weth a iron flat, what they do iron clooas weth, called a still.
e. A needle; a knitting-needle. dial.
[1784Cowper Task iv. 165 The threaded steel..Flies swiftly.] 1839McDowall Poems 87 (E.D.D.) 'Twere better she had steek'd her gab Wi' steel an' thread. 1901‘Zack’ Dunstable Weir 133 At that mother would pick up her knitting and clack the needles together till the stitches fair tumbled from the steels.
† f. A stylet, a stylus. Obs.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 230 With a pointed steel, or needle, draw or write on it what you please.
g. the steels = skates.
1875Field 2 Jan. 1/3 The ladies, whenever they can, are acquiring the use of the steels. 1895Outing XXVII. 201/1 Considerable skill on the steels.
9. Dress.
a. A strip of steel used to give stiffness or support, or to expand a dress.
1608Machin Dumb Knt. i. i, I haue a ruffe is a quarter deep, measured by the yard... You haue a pretty set too, how big is the steele you set with? 1885Pall Mall Gaz. 11 May 4/1 Creatures with 16-inch waists, and a weight of steels, horse⁓hair, and drapery depending therefrom. 1891Eng. Illustr. Mag. Dec. 198 A semi-tubular arrangement of steels, that gave a peculiar swinging motion to the train of the dress. 1904Daily Chron. 22 Feb. 5/4, I suppose the bullet must have struck the steels in my corsets.
b. A dress trimming made of steel beads or ornaments.
1899Daily News 26 Jan. 6/3 A trailing skirt embroidered in what is termed fine steel.
10. pl. (Finance.) Shares in steel-manufacturing companies.
1912Times 19 Dec. 19/4 Steels lost 1/3 in the Common and 1 point in the Preferred stock at 351/4 and 64 respectively. 1913Ibid. 13 Sept. 17/3 Industrials were generally good, with Steels prominent on trade advices.
II. attrib. and Comb.
11. attrib., passing into adj. Made or consisting of steel.
Such combinations are sometimes hyphened or formed into one word (e.g. steel-filings, steelwork) in order to indicate their specific character.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 4679 Coffres grete with stele barrelles. 1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 108 Stele spades..vj. 1537Bury Wills (Camden) 130 My stell pan and my lyttell huche on the soller. 1542Invent. R. Wardr. Scot. (1815) 63 Item ane steill mirrour set in silver. 1607B. Barnes Divils Charter v. i. K 2, He shall haue two steele bullets strongly charg'd. a1618Rates of Merchandizes L 4, Steele Wire. 1681Grew Musæum i. §7. ii. 169 The under parts blew, exactly like that colour which Watch-Makers and others give to their Steel-Works. 1697― Epsom Waters 46 Take, of Steell-Filings powder'd, ten Grains. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 117 As steel-dust rushes to adamant. 1771Encycl. Brit. III. 511/2 A slender sharp-pointed steel-bodkin. 1854Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Poet. & Imag. Wks. (Bohn) III. 143 As when a boy finds that his pocket knife will attract steel filings. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 63 All the steelwork of the ship is made in the shop except the fore and aft posts. 1944M. Laski Love on Supertax xi. 103 A tall steel-mesh gate. 1976J. Wheeler-Bennett Friends, Enemies & Sovereigns v. 156 King Peter attributed his father's, King Alexander's, death to the fact that..he had not worn his steel-mesh bullet-proof shirt.
b. often of weapons and armour.
1340–70Alisaunder 416 Strained in stel ger [MS. stelger] on steedes of might. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 260 Þy burȝ & þy burnes best ar holden, Stifest vnder stel-gere on stedes to ryde. c1400Destr. Troy 9634 Mony stoute þere was storuen vnder stel wedis. c1460Towneley Myst. xvi. 107, I shuld with this steyll brand Byrkyn all his bonys. 1549Compl. Scot. xix. 163 In steil iakkis and in cotis of mailȝe. 1551Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. X. 18 My lord governouris steill bonett. 1588Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 44 Sixtene hundrethe and a halffe of plates to be a stiell cote, ixs vjd. 1632W. Lithgow Trav. iii. 89 On his head he weareth a bare steele cap. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxxii, Stirrup, steel-boot, and cuish gave way. 1829― Anne of G. xxvi, I will grasp the mountain-hedgehog, prickles and all, with my steel-gauntlet. 1868Morris Earthly Par., Man born to be King 1259 Raise up the steel-cap from thine head.
c. in poetical or rhetorical allusion to the use of steel for armour or weapons.
1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 231 (Qo.) The tyrant custome..Hath made the flinty and steele Cooch of warre My thrice driuen bed of downe. 1815Scott Field of Waterloo xi, Steel-gleams broke Like lightning through the rolling smoke. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iii. ix, So, however, with steel-besom, Rascality is brushed back into its dim depths.
12. Indicating medicaments, etc. containing iron, as steel drops, steel lozenge, steel pill, steel water, steel wine.
1652French Yorksh. Spa x. 92 To mix some Sugar of steel, or steel wine with the first glass. 1675G. Harvey Dis. Lond. xxiv. 264, I have found a singular Virtue in Steel drops, præpared after my Mode. 1712–13Swift Jrnl. to Stella 17 Feb., I..take some nasty steel drops, and my head has been better. 1713Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 248 Our English Steel-Waters at Tunbridge. a1734North Exam. iii. ix. §7 (1740) 653 Let the Author reflect upon the Need he hath of such a Steel Course as this. 1818S. F. Gray Suppl. Pharmacop. 308 Steel lozenges. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Steel-wine, sherry wine in which steel filings have been placed for some time. 1865Morn. Star 23 June, A box of steel pills. 1900Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 620 Cod⁓liver oil and steel wine are useful in the later stages.
13. Of or belonging to steel as a product or an article of commerce, as steel man, steel mine, steel plant, steel town, steel trade, steel works.
1601Holland Pliny vii. lvi. I. 188 The discoverie of the yron and steele mines. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. v. vi, From their new dungeons at Chantilly, Aristocrats may hear the rustle of our new steel furnace there. 1842Penny Cycl. XXIII. 2/2 The usual operation in large steel-works is first to cut the bar-iron into certain lengths. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. E 1, The Plate represents the steel plant at the Langley Mill Steel and Iron Works. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 111 Let us cross to the steel-sheds again. 1905F. Harrison Chatham vi. 106 The toilers in those mines and steel-yards [of Pittsburg]. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 1 Oct. 9/3 Mr. Fraser outlined the benefits that would come..from the erection of a steel plant here. 1922L. Mumford in H. E. Stearns Civilizations in U.S. 10 The steel towns of the Ohio [River]. 1961Universe 27 Jan. 2/4 Steelmen There. Pope John on Monday received members of the council of the European coal and steel authority. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 24 Jan. 1/1 East Chicago, Ind., a smoky Lake Michigan steel town that isn't exactly famous for its esthetic splendor even when the sun shines. 1977Times 19 Dec. 13/3 Sound arguments have been put forward by many respected steelmen for moving away from the large integrated coastal works. 1979Steel Times Internat. Sept. 91/2 The building of a new steelplant.
14. = engraved on steel.
1880‘Mark Twain’ in Mark Twain Let. Writer (1932) iii. 48 The best picture I have had yet is the steel frontis⁓piece to my new book. 1884Athenæum 19 July 83 The volume will contain a steel portrait of the author.
15. a. With the sense ‘resembling steel’ (in colour, hardness, etc.), as steel gloss; steel-bright, steel-hard, steel-sharp, steel-straight, steel-strong, steel-thin, adjs.; esp. with names of colour, as steel-black, steel-blue, steel-grey, steel-green adjs. and ns.
1560T. Phaer æneid x. (1562) G g j, Wher neuer cessing soyle doth steelebright stuff send out from mines. 1817Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. i. 88 Steel-blue Swallow. Ibid. 93 Top of the head..shining steel-black. Ibid. 97 Upper parts of the plumage black, with a steel gloss. 1833Jardine Humming-Birds 146 On the throat is a patch of the clearest violet-blue, shading off to steel-blue on the sides. 1842Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 273 A steel-gray crust of metallic arsenic. 1882Crookes Dyeing & Tissue-Printing 197 Dark Steel Greens on Half Woollens. 1899A. H. Evans Birds 548 Manucodia atra is steel-green and black. 1916A. Huxley Burning Wheel 8 The adamant core and the steel-hard chain. 1920E. Sitwell Wooden Pegasus 32 Dusty voice that throbs with heat, Hoping with its steel-thin beat To put stitches in my mind. 1921J. Buchan Path of King i. 9 The world put on a new dress, all steel-blue and misty green... Spring had fairly come. 1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 29 Sit beside the steel-straight arms of your fair women. Ibid. 177 Steered and propelled by that steel-strong snake of a tail. 1944Blunden Shells by Stream 4 Steel-sharp might Which blows the babe and nurse to atoms in the night. 1944A. L. Rowse English Spirit xiii. 105 Narrow temples and steel-grey eyes. 1954L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 95 She ascends where steelbright rays impinge. 1976‘Z. Stone’ Modigliani Scandal ii. i. 69 A steel-blue Mercedes coupé. 1977A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory 23 His sombre characterization of the ‘steel-hard cage’ of the modern social order. 1978‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions iv. 73 The steel-grey curtain of the rain.
b. fig. = as hard as steel, steely.
1600Shakes. Sonn. cxxxiii. 9 Prison my heart in thy steele bosomes warde. 1602Chettle Hoffman v. (1631) I 3, My heart is steele Nor can it suffer more then it doth feele. a1618E. Bolton Hypercritica ii. §3 This steel Rule whosoever honestly follows may perhaps write incommodiously for some momentany Purposes, but [etc.]. 1847Tennyson Princess vi. 215 Not one word? not one? Whence drew you this steel temper? 1899Bridges Septuagesima ii. Poems (1912) 340 Steel is the ice.
16. Objective, with agent-nouns, as steel-erector, steel-maker, steel-worker; with vbl. ns. and ppl. adjs., as steel-making, steel-piercing, steel-rolling, steel-using.
1624Quarles Job Milit. xviii. 58 That Steele-digesting Bird. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 4 The steel-making process. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1171 G, is the door by which the steel-maker enters. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Steel-roller, the cylinder of a mill for rolling out steel into sheets. 1881Nature XXIII. 568 The commotion among steel-users caused by the total failure of the steel plates. 1884Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Jan. 9/1 A Glasgow telegram states that 2,000 steelworkers..refused to resume work to-day. 1903Daily Chron. 17 Mar. 9/2 An elderly retired steel smelter. 1932Auden Orators iii. 102 Our steel-piercing bullet, our burglar-proof safe. 1959Daily Tel. 12 Dec. 1/2 Loss of work because of steel shortages in car and other steel⁓using industries. 1960Times 22 Mar. 12/1 The site of many industries and the country's largest steel-rolling mill. 1974‘J. Ross’ Burning of Billy Toober xi. 100 Almost permanently unemployed but registered as a steel-erector. 1977Whitaker's Almanack 1978 757/1 Some of the country's [sc. Nigeria's] more important industrial installations include a steel-rolling mill. 1977Time 19 Sept. 48/3 The relatively brisk pace of the economy is boosting demand in many steel-using industries.
17. Instrumental and parasynthetic, as steel-born, steel-bound, steel-clad, steel-girt, steel-graven, steel-lined, steel-shod; steel-barred, steel-bosomed, steel-coloured, steel-grated, steel-hilted, steel-lined, steel-nerved, steel-pointed, steel-rimmed, steel-shafted, steel-studded, steel-tempered, steel-tipped, steel-topped, etc.
a1400–50Wars Alex. 284, vij stele-grauyn stanys. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 324 Whose thorny sides are hedged round about With stiff steel-pointed quills. 1596Drayton Mortimer. 39 In steele bound locks he safely lodg'd the Guard. 1597― Heroic. Ep., Brandon to Q. Mary 143 His steele-tempered blade. 1642H. More Song of Soul iii. iii. 45 Steel-coloured clouds with rattling thunder knocks. 1682N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 183 Come, Girot! Come, my trusty steel-edg'd friend. 1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2202/4 A little Steel Hilted French Sword. 1751Warton Poems (1777) 61 Our steel-clad steeds. 1805Scott Last Minstr. ii. ix, A steel-clenched postern door. 1875J. W. Benson Time & T.-tellers (1902) 40 The watch being only silver gilt, and steel-faced. 1900Elworthy Horns of Honour ii. 124 Steel-framed spectacles. 1909Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 5/2 A new steel-studded tyre. 1924W. J. Locke Coming of Amos xvi. 211 What kind of steel-nerved wisp of a woman are you? 1926‘C. Barry’ Detective's Holiday vii. 66 A pair of steel-rimmed spectacles. 1929L. MacNeice Blind Fireworks 8 The steel⁓bosomed siren calling bitterly. 1930Blunden Poems 139 But steel-born bees, birds, beams invade. 1935Kipling in Times 17 July 19/4 In the steel-grated prisons where I cast him. 1947Dylan Thomas Let. 12 Apr. (1966) 302 In steel-barred rooms, where Mussolini personally had..interrogated. 1950Times 22 May 4/3 Four golfers and a caddy..were carrying steel-shafted clubs. 1954L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 94 The steel-clad troops begin arriving from the rear to rally or harry their humble fellows. 1972P. Buckland Irish Unionism I. viii. 215 Armed raiders who had removed the steel-lined shutters from the windows. 1973M. Russell Double Hit xx. 149, I just don't believe that an accidental swipe with a squash racket, even a steel-shafted one, would have killed a man. 1974J. Aiken Midnight is a Place x. 290 The duels..which the men..fought, using no weapons but the steel-tipped clogs on their feet. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xv. 174 The face was strong, the eyes behind the steel-rimmed spectacles alert.
18. Special comb.: steel band, (a) Mus., a band composed of musicians who play (chiefly calypso-style) music on steel drums; so steel bandsman, a musician in a steel band; (b) Austral. [band n.2 12], ‘hard thin stratum of ferruginous and siliceous material lying below the sandstone roof and above the opal dirt’ (J. S. Gunn Opal Terminol. (1971)); steel bar slang, a needle; † steel beetle, some American beetle; steel bender (see quot. 1921); steel-bow(ed) a. U.S., (of spectacles) having steel frames; † steel-browed a., shameless; steel driver U.S., who have makes holes for explosive charges, using a steel stake and a sledgehammer; steel drum Mus., a percussion instrument originating in the West Indies, made out of an oil drum with one end beaten down and divided into grooved sections to give different notes; hence steel drummer; steel engraving, the art of engraving upon a steel plate; a print or impression from such a plate; similarly steel-engraved a., -engraver; steel-facing, the process of covering an engraved metal plate with a film of steel to increase its durability; hence steel-faced a.; (as back formation) steel-face v. trans.; steel fall local, [fall n.2] = steel trap; steel finch (see quot.); steel fixer, a skilled steel worker in the construction industries; steel frame, a framework, esp. of a building, made of steel; also fig.; freq. attrib.; hence steel-framed a.; also steel framework; steel grain, a granular texture like that of steel; steel-grained a., having a steel grain; steel guitar = Hawaiian guitar s.v. Hawaiian a. and n. II.; steel-hardened a., case-hardened (in quot. fig.); steel iron, (a) a native iron resembling steel; (b) iron suitable for converting into steel; (c) (see quot. 1883); steel lustre, a composition used for ornamenting pottery; steel marl: see marl n.1 1 b; steel master, a manufacturer of steel; † steel-nose, app. a slang name for some kind of strong drink; steel orchestra = steel band above; † steel-ore, (a) an ore of lead with a ‘steel-grain’; (b) siderite or native ferrous carbonate; steel pan = pan n.1 1 f; † steel saddle, ? a saddle with a steel frame; steel tape, (a) a measuring tape made of steel; † (b) tape made of steel for use as a recording medium (obs.); steel trap, (a) a trap with jaws and spring of steel; (b) fig. (chiefly in attrib. use) and in U.S. phr. smart as a steel trap and varr.; † steel wasp (see quot.); steel wool , fine strands of steel matted together, used as an abrasive, esp. for scouring.
1949Caribbean Quarterly I. i. 30 The audience was introduced to..Trinidad's own *steel band. 1950Bull. Austral. Bur. Mineral Resources No. 17. 27 The first or upper level is indicated by the presence of a very thin and hard band of siliceous sandstone known as the ‘Steel Band’. 1960Times 17 Sept. 7/6 The steelband competition of the Trinidad music festival. 1967Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 8 Jan. 6/7 Then comes eight to twelve feet of quartzite..and often after that, a layer of hard siliceous sandstone known as the ‘steelband’. 1974E. Ambler Dr. Frigo i. 15 He had collapsed while listening to the steel band.
1948Trinidad Guardian 16 June 5/6 (heading) Judge advises *steel bandsman to mend ways. 1967Listener 31 Aug. 277/2 The steel bandsmen can play anything well: without a conductor and from memory.
1785Grose Dict. Vulg. T., *Steel bar, a needle; a steel bar flinger, a taylor, staymaker, or any other person, using a needle.
c1711Petiver Gazophyl. viii. lxxi, Small Carolina *Steel-Beetle with a yellow girdled Back and Neck.
1921Dict. Occupational Terms (1927) §279 *Steel bender,..bends steel rods and girders in hand operated or power press, into required shape, to form framework for concrete. 1939M. Spring Rice Working-Class Wives iii. 53 An unemployed steel-bender in Newcastle. 1963Times 10 June 8/1 The accent on industrialized building and the increasing development over recent years in concreting have created a great new demand for new skilled labour such as scaffolders, concreters, steelbenders and fixers.
1834in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1924) LVII. 258 Appears to be a pleasant fellow, with frightful whiskers and *steel bow spectacles.
1932*Steel-bowed [see notion-peddler s.v. notion 9 c]. 1950W. Faulkner Lo in Coll. Stories iii. 390 From the pocket of his dressing gown he took a pair of steel-bowed spectacles.
1600O. E. (M. Sutcliffe) Repl. Libel i. iv. 91 If he had not beene both *steelebrowed, and beetilbrowed, yea and beetilheaded, he woulde neuer haue beene so bolde.
1916in Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore (1919) XXXII. 505 He [John Henry] was a *steel driver and was famous in the beginning of the building of the C & O Railroad. 1973A. Dundes Mother Wit 586 The story of John Henry is powerful whether there was an actual steel-driver named John Henry or..not.
1952Holiday Feb. 94/2 Rainbow-uniformed dandies parade and compete in making music on tuned *steel drums from oilcans. 1971West Indian World 12 Nov. 7/1 Trinidad..known..for its calypso singers and steel-drum bands. 1978New York 3 Apr. 31 (Advt.), A cool drink slakes your thirst, steel drums stir your blood.
1960Times 17 Sept. 7/6 This influenced the *steeldrummers to discard their tubes and bars and to use tops of oil-drums hung from the neck. 1975R. L. Simon Wild Turkey (1976) x. 60 The reggae band..had a steel drummer who could go day and night and enough dope to turn on a rock festival.
1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 136 *Steel Engraved Bank Note Plates.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIII. 6/2 The early *steel engravers.
1824Encycl. Brit. Suppl. VI. 547/2 marg., *Steel-Engraving. 1842Penny Cycl. XXIII. 6/1 The application of steel engraving to matters of fine art. 1879(title) The Works of Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. Illustrated by forty-four steel engravings and about two hundred woodcuts.
1884J. S. Hodson Guide to Art Illustration ii. iii. 213 The proper thickness of copper having been deposited in the mould, the shell is filed or ground flat on the back, and the face coated with a deposit of iron,—a process commonly called *steel facing. 1897Singer & Strang Etching, Engraving iii. 61 Steel-faced it may be printed over and over again.., for as soon as the steel face should wear off, the plate can be again immersed in the electrotyper's bath [etc.]. 1937Discovery Mar. 76/2 The burr [in drypoint] being raised, will quickly wear, owing to the rubbing and the pressure it receives in printing. To overcome this a fine film of iron is deposited by an electric process on the plate. This is called steel-facing. An unfaced drypoint will yield only four or five-class impressions before the burr starts to wear. A steel-faced plate will give as many as fifty. 1961Webster, Steel-face, v. 1965Zigrosser & Gaehde Guide Coll. Orig. Prints iii. 26 An invention of the mid-nineteenth century..steel-facing... The reason steel-faced prints have acquired a bad name is that they have often been printed on a slipshod manner. Ibid. v. 86 It used to be standard practice among professional etchers to steel-face the copperplate.
1895P. H. Emerson Birds etc. Norf. Broadland 290 The iniquitous ‘*steel-fall’ or common steel rat-trap.
1869–73T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds I. 163 The *Steel Finch (Hypochera ultramarina) frequents the banks of the Nile.
1936Record Apr. 219/3 There is an awakening of interest amongst another section of building trade workers, namely, the *steel benders and fixers. 1949Transport & General Workers' Record June 26/3 (heading) Steel fixers and tubular scaffolders. 1974Steel fixer [see precasting vbl. n.].
1898Engineering 8 July 39/3 An architect is made responsible for the general arrangement of the building..while the *steel frame or skeleton is the work of a skilful engineer experienced in such matters. 1906G. A. T. Middleton Mod. Buildings IV. xiv. 134/2 Probably the most thorough example of steel-frame construction yet erected in England is that of the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly. 1922Lloyd George in Hansard Commons 2 Aug. 1513, I can see no period when they can dispense with the guidance and the assistance of this small nucleus of the British Civil Service, of British officials in India—this 1,200 in a population of 315,000,000... They are the steel frame of the whole structure. 1928M. Muggeridge in Young Men of India XL. 624 There is that amount of truth in the contention of the Die-hard as against that of the sentimental liberal—it must be a steel frame or nothing. 1948O. Bondy in E. de Maré New Ways of Building 70 It was not until the 1890's that the first complete steel-frame buildings were erected in the U.S.A. 1980J. Boyd-Carpenter Way of Life v. 59 To this day they [sc. the Carabinieri] are, I believe, the steel frame of the distracted Italian Republic.
1906G. A. T. Middleton Mod. Buildings IV. xiv. 134/2 A steel frame⁓work may often be used with considerable economy, as is evidenced by the number of *steel-framed structures that are now springing up. 1974D. Seaman Bomb that could Lip-Read iii. 23 His steel-framed grey suitcase.
1906*Steel framework [see steel-framed adj. above]. 1940Engineering 1 Nov. 343/3 The steel framework..embedded in the concrete.
a1728Woodward Fossils (1729) I. 211 [Lead-]Ore of the finest *Steel-Grain.
Ibid., *Steel-grain'd Lead-Ore. 1841Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 262/2 Steel-grained cast-iron, or crude steel.
1925Glasgow Herald 19 Mar. 8/7 Those two seductive Hawaiian instruments, the ukulele and the *steel guitar. 1974V. Gielgud In such a Night ix. 90 The nerve-battering provided by invisible steel guitars.
1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 255 His muscles were *steel-hardened by service. 1980Guardian Weekly 13 July 1/2 It has all the grisly mod military cons: an isolated water supply, a purified air system, steel-hardened concrete.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 681 Native *steel-iron. This substance has all the characters of cast-steel. c1840Mushet in Greener's Gunnery (1858) 150 We humbly feel our dependence on two foreign markets for the supply of that steel-iron, without which the beauty, the utility, and extent of our hardware manufactures would be essentially injured and abridged. 1840― Papers Iron and Steel 751 Steel iron and steel have since been manufactured to some extent near Ulverston. 1883Science I. 46/1 M. Keil has succeeded in producing a welded metal which is stated to possess the characters of both iron and steel... This so called steel-iron is said to have been prepared in five ways.
1829S. Shaw Staffordsh. Potteries x. 227 The *Steel Lustre employs oxide of Platinum.
1885Daily Tel. 28 Sept. (Cassell) Iron-masters, *steel-masters, iron-consumers. 1901Daily News 22 Jan. 10/5 A leading Staffordshire steel master and blast furnace owner.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 459 They can tell you whose Pudding hath Sewet in it, and whose not; who drinks Rot-gut, and who *Steele-nose.
1952S. Selvon Brighter Sun xii. 233 Crowds jumped up to the music of *steel orchestras. 1971News-Advocate (Barbados) 20 Mar. 7/1 (Advt.), Dancing to the rhythmic beats of the..Elk Owls steel orchestra.
1661Boyle Ess. Unsuccessf. Exper. i. (1668) 52 Lead..so like Steel and so unlike common Lead-Oar, that the workmen upon that account are pleased to call it *Steel-Oar. 1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 410 Steel ore, or steel grained lead ore. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 192 Calcareous, or Sparry Iron Ore..affords..the best Steel... Hence it is generally called Steel Ore.
1973Nation (Barbados) 23 Dec. 8 Trinidad's famed *steel pans [will] be produced in masse in England. 1983Times 7 Jan. 2/1 [He] was employed for several years by the local education authority to teach steel pan playing in schools.
1503Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 205 Ane haknay sadill, and ane *steil sadill. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 129 Certane horssis plesand and fayr with steil sadles.
1900*Steel tape [see tape n.1 2 a]. 1901Electrician 26 Apr. 7/2 The next [electromagnet] is connected to a microphone circuit to convey the record to the steel tape. 1949S. J. Begun Magnetic Recording i. 10 A recording made on steel tape..has been played more than 100,000 times with no measurable deterioration after a slight initial falling off in output level. 1977J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running vii. 90 Measure off a half-mile with a steel tape.
1735Somervile Chase iii. Argt., The *Steel-Trap described. 1775[see spring-gun 1]. 1827Hone's Every-day Bk. II. 906 The stranger..is in jeopardy of falling into the..fangs of a steel-trap. 1872Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Fireside Stories 57 She was a little thin woman, but tough as Inger rubber, and smart as a steel trap. 1899A. M. Binstead Gal's Gossip 127 He posted sentinel, bright and ready as a new steel-trap. 1921D. H. Lawrence Tortoises 32 Little old man, Scuffling beside her..Parting his steel-trap face, so suddenly and seizing her scaly ankle. 1937E. S. Gardner Case of Dangerous Dowager i. 8 You're going up against a crook who is smart as a steel trap. 1972Publisher's Weekly 17 Apr. 19/1 He's rather amused by what he calls his steeltrap memory. ‘I have a tight grip on things in inverse proportion to their importance.’
c1711Petiver Gazophyl. vi. lviii, Shining Cape *Steel Wasp... The Wings shine like polisht Steel.
1896Iron Age 9 Apr. 871/2 The interesting product ‘*steel wool’ is intended for use in all cases where sandpaper, emery paper, pumice stone and materials of a kindred nature are employed. 1947J. C. Rich Materials & Methods of Sculpture vi. 169 ‘Fire-skin’ may be removed by rubbing the work with steel wool, which is available in several grades, varying from very coarse to very fine. 1958Listener 16 Oct. 627/1 Scour round the inside with a steel wool soap-pad. 1977C. McCullough Thorn Birds xvii. 444 His thick mane of hair was exactly the color of steel wool.
▪ II. steel, n.2|stiːl|
[A shortened form of bastile.]
(See quots.)
1811Lex. Balatr., Steel, the house of correction. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Bastile, generally called for shortnes, the steel a cant name for the House of Correction, Cold-Bath-Fields, London. 1839in ‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar T. (1857) 35 The steel, the tread-mill. 1877Five Yrs. Penal Serv. i. 5 A series of rapid inquiries as to who I was,..had I ever been in the ‘steel,’ a slang name for one of the large metropolitan prisons, as the ‘Gate’ is for Newgate.
▪ III. steel, v.|stiːl|
Also 3–5 stele, 6–7 steele.
[f. steel n.1 Cf. MHG. stæhelen (mod.G. stählen), ON. stǽla; also (without umlaut) MLG. stâlen, Du. stalen.]
1. a. trans. To overlay, point or edge with steel. Often in passive to be (well) steeled.
[a900: see steeled ppl. a.] a1240Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 253 Hure þolien ant a beoren hare unirude duntes wið mealles istelet. c1320Cast. Love 1248 A swerd..Þat wel i-steled and kene were. a1440Sir Degrev. 1043 Hys helme shal be wel steled. 1581A. Hall Iliad iv. 63 An arrow he out of his quiuer cought, Sure steelde at end with piercing head. 1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 215 Performed with a sharp cutting stone, and not with any knife of iron steeled. 1693Lister in Phil. Trans. XVII. 865 With a Guess at the way the Ancients used to Steel their Picks for the cutting or hewing of Porphyry. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 18 The Chissell or Piercer, was well steeled, with a drill Point. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Plate xxxvii, The teeth are one foot in length..steeled at the point. 1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 220 It was the common notion..that the art of steeling tools in the highest degree of perfection was certainly lost to the moderns. 1864G. L. M. Strauss etc. Engl. Workshops 93 The former process is technically termed steeling in the centre, the latter steeling on the face. 1911J. Ward Roman Era Brit. xi. 195 The face of the hammer was ‘steeled’ by a plate of steel welded to it.
fig.1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 148 Ile in to vrge his hatred more to Clarence, With Lyes well steel'd with weighty Arguments. 1614W. B. Philos. Banquet (ed. 2) 114 He euer steeled the forefront of his armie with men of hiest spirit. 1651Jer. Taylor Serm. Golden-Grove, Summer xix. 248 When God..draws aside his curtain, and shows his arsenal and his armory, full of arrows steeled with wrath.
†b. To back (a mirror) with steel. Obs.
1625Donne Serm. (1649) II. xxxiii. 302 Nay, a Crystall glasse will not show a man his face, except it be steeled, except it be darkned on the backside. 1630Massinger Renegado i. iii, Here is a mirror Steelde so exactely, neither taking from Nor flattering the obiect it returnes To the beholder.
c. To cover (an engraved metal plate) with a film of iron by electrolysis to render it more durable.
1880Hamerton Etching (ed. 3) 342 note, My large dry⁓point,..called Two Stumps of Driftwood, gave 1000 copies (after being steeled) without perceptible wearing. 1887Ruskin in Spielmann Mem. (1900) 195 Now that everybody can..engrave the photograph, and steel the copper, and print piles and piles of the thing by steam.
2. To cause to resemble steel in some quality.
a. fig. To make hard, unbending, or strong as steel, to render insensible to impression, to make determined or obdurate, to nerve or strengthen; also to fortify against.
1581A. Hall Iliad vi. 110 But stil he was so steelde With heart so good, as victor he dead left them in the field. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 375, 376 Giue me my heart..O giue it me lest thy hard heart do steele it, And being steeld, soft sighes can neuer graue it. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 443 With this Position let us..steele our Resolves. 1720Waterland Eight Serm. 97 Let any man..that..is not steel'd against Conviction, be left to draw the Conclusion. 1796F. Burney Camilla II. 370 Steel yourself, then, firmly to withstand attacks from the cruel and unfeeling. 1822Lamb Elia Ser. i. Decay of Beggars, It is possible I could have steeled my purse against him. 1826Scott Woodst. v, I..was steeled by honour against the charms of my friend's Chloe. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 380 The rich experience of a long life steeled in the victorious struggle with every unchristian element. 1884Leisure Hour Sept. 545/2 The air and exercise had steeled my nerves completely.
b. To make like steel in appearance. rare.
1807Wordsw. Sonn. Nat. Indep. & Liberty ii. v, And lo! those waters, steeled By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield A vivid repetition of the stars.
†3. to steel it: ? to use steel, strike with the sword. Obs. or nonce-use. (The sense is disputed.)
a1593Marlowe Edw. II, iii. ii. 1333 We haue beene..Too kinde to them, but now haue drawne our sword, And if they send me not my Gaueston, Weele steele it on their crest, and powle their tops.
†4. To impregnate (a liquid) with steel. Obs.
1657J. Cooke Hall's Cures englisht 117 She drunk her drink steeled, with which she was cured.
5. To convert (iron) into steel: = steelify v.
1853in Jrnl. Franklin Inst. (1888) CXXV. 303 By passing an electric current thus through the bars the operation of steeling is much hastened. 1977Sci. Amer. May 61/3 Iron that has been ‘steeled’ with that much carbon will not deform under stresses of less than 140,000 p.s.i. Ibid. Oct. 127/1 It seems evident that by the beginning of the 10th century B.C. blacksmiths were intentionally steeling iron.
6. To sharpen (a knife) with the steel.
1888Berksh. Gloss.
7. dial. To iron (clothes).
1746Exmoor Scolding 273 Tha hasn't tha Sense to stile thy own Dressing. 1837J. F. Palmer Gloss. to Mrs. Palmer's Devon Dial. 85.
▪ IV. steel
obs. form of steal v., stile. |