Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - steel

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English stele, from Old English sty?le, stele; akin to Old High German stahal ~ and perhaps to Sanskrit stakati he resists  Date: before 12th century  1. commercial iron that contains carbon in any amount up to about 1.7 percent as an essential alloying constituent, is malleable when under suitable conditions, and is distinguished from cast iron by its malleability and lower carbon content  2. an instrument or implement of or characteristically of ~: as  a. a thrusting or cutting weapon  b. an instrument (as a fluted round rod with a handle) for sharpening knives  c. a piece of ~ for striking sparks from flint  3. a quality (as hardness of mind or spirit) that suggests ~ nerves of ~  4.  a. the ~ manufacturing industry  b. plural shares of stock in ~ companies  II. transitive verb  Date: 13th century  1. to overlay, point, or edge with ~  2.  a. to cause to resemble ~ (as in looks or hardness)  b. to fill with resolution or determination ~ed herself to face the crisis  III. adjective  Date: 13th century  1. made of ~  2. of or relating to the production of ~  3. resembling ~