steel wool
4
3.0
- noun
- /stiːl wʊl/
:
lana de acero
- If you just have surface rust and you want to hit it up with some coarse steel wool, it takes most of it off.
- steel wool pad
- fine steel wool
- scrub with steel wool
What if you don't want a steel wool finish on your steel?
- What if you don't want a steel wool finish on your steel?
Examples
-
Brillo steel wool soap pads are tough cleaning tools.
Academic text (1997) -
To clean the dirty metal surface, use a piece of steel wool for effective scrubbing.
-
I need your steel wool.
-
- I'm sorry, I just wanted some more steel wool.
-
Sam had finished the grill and the floor, and was sitting at this table cleaning the bottom of a pot with a piece of steel wool.
Fiction book (1994) -
Then take steel wool to finish smoothing out the all-thread.
Blog text (14) -
So if you don't mind, this is just to make sure that the piece of steel wool is getting thoroughly soaked.
-
I just have to sand it with steel wool after to get some of that polyurethane layer off because it is a combo.
-
Applying paste wax on the surface using very fine steel wool could restore the glossy hard finish of your wood computer desk.
Blog text (30) -
There were smears of hen dirt and bits of straw stuck to them, waiting to be rubbed off with steel wool.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
1
4.6
A pad of fine steel fibers used to clean and smooth metal and other hard surfaces
1
3.2
A small cleaning tool of thin metal threads used to remove dirt or smooth surfaces
How Abrasive
4
3.0
- Specialized
1
5.1
1
3.1
77
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
steel + wool
The meaning is directly and predictably derived from combining 'steel' (the material) with 'wool' (a fibrous, fluffy mass) to indicate fine, wool-like steel filaments used as an abrasive. This material + noun compositional pattern and the metaphorical use of 'wool' to mean a fibrous texture are common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun steel wool comes from thin steel threads tangled together so they look like wool. People use steel wool for 'cleaning' and 'polishing' hard surfaces, so the name links the metal material to its cleaning job.