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Glite Dictionary
👔 Removes wrinkles 💇 Straightens hair
steam iron

steam iron

3.2
A hair tool that uses steam to straighten or shape hair
  • noun
  • /stiːm ˈaɪərn/
translation icon : plancha de vapor
  • She used the steam iron to straighten her hair without causing much heat damage.

Examples

  • The steam iron made styling her hair faster and easier than using traditional methods.

  • After washing her hair, she ran the steam iron through it to create beautiful curls.

  • Mainly she taught me shirts, at first guiding my hand as I ran the steam iron over a sleeve, back, between buttons.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

straightener
vssteam iron
3 3.5

A tool that makes hair smooth and flat using heat

uses steam to shape hair while aiming to reduce heat damage

Surface Forms

steam iron singular
steam irons plural

Morphology

steam + iron

The meaning 'an iron that uses steam' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'steam' (vapor) with 'iron' (a handheld heated appliance); a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer it's an iron that produces or uses steam for pressing or styling. This noun–noun composition is a straightforward, compositional compound found across languages, so the MWE is predictable from its parts.

Etymology

The noun steam iron for hair comes from the same image: picture a hot tool that sends a gentle mist of steam over hair to relax and smooth it. That's why a steam iron for hair means a tool that uses steam to 'straighten' hair and 'reduce damage'.