📖 S — The English dictionary · page 93

steadiness — Everyday, meaning 1: Being firm and not shaking or wobbling.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Being regular and even, without sudden changes.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Being calm, sensible and reliable.↗ Example: Holding the tray, the waiter showed great steadiness.↗ · Surgeons need steadiness of hand.↗ · Her steadiness in the crisis calmed everyone.↗ · The steadiness of the rain meant the river rose slowly.↗ · We admired the steadiness of the tightrope walker.↗ · The graph shows the steadiness of the temperature all day.↗

steady — Everyday, meaning 1: Firm and not shaking or wobbling, like a steady ladder or a steady hand.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Happening at an even, regular rate without sudden changes, like steady rain or a steady speed.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Calm and sensible, someone you can rely on.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: As a verb, to steady something is to hold it so it stops moving or wobbling.↗ Example: Hold the ladder steady while Dad climbs up.↗ · It rained steadily all afternoon.↗ · The train moved at a steady speed of 80 kilometres an hour.↗ · Her hand was steady as she poured the water.↗ · Ready, steady, go!↗ · He grabbed the rail to steady himself on the bus.↗ · The plant grew at a steady rate of 2 cm a week.↗ · Slow and steady wins the race, said the tortoise.↗ · Slow and steady wins the race.↗

steak — Everyday, meaning 1: A thick, flat slice of good meat, usually beef, cooked by grilling or frying.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A thick slice of fish, such as a salmon or tuna steak.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (UK) Cheaper chopped beef used in pies and stews: steak and kidney pie.↗ Example: Dad grilled steaks on the barbecue.↗ · I like my steak well done.↗ · We had steak and chips for Dad's birthday.↗ · A salmon steak is a thick slice of salmon.↗ · Nan makes a delicious steak pie.↗ · Vegetarians don't eat steak.↗ · The cowboy ordered the biggest steak in the diner.↗ · He gathered a bundle of sticks for a fire, and was just preparing to cook a steak, when his enemy, the Lapp, came up, panting with haste and excitement.↗

steal — Everyday, meaning 1: To take something that belongs to someone else without permission and without meaning to give it back.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To move quietly and secretly, as in she stole out of the room.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In sport, to take the ball or a base from the other team, as in baseball or basketball.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: As a noun, "a steal" means something very cheap for what it is worth.↗ Example: It is wrong to steal, even something small.↗ · Someone stole my bike from outside the shop.↗ · The fox crept in to steal the eggs.↗ · She stole a quick look at the present.↗ · The cat stole silently across the garden.↗ · In the game, Mia managed to steal the ball.↗ · The puppy stole the show at the school play.↗ · Only five dollars for this book is a steal!↗ · He steals the young monkeys in the night.↗ · Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another.↗ (Torah LEV.19.11, JPS 1917)↗ · If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.↗ (Torah EXO.22.1, JPS 1917)↗ · Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought back unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?↗ (Torah GEN.44.8, JPS 1917)↗ · Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; (Writings PRO.6.30, JPS 1917)↗ · Swearing and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery! they break all bounds, and blood toucheth blood.↗ (Prophets HOS.4.2, JPS 1917)↗ · Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal My words every one from his neighbour.↗ (Prophets JER.23.30, JPS 1917)↗

stealer — Everyday, meaning 1: A stealer is a person or animal that takes things which belong to someone else.↗ (A rare word for a thief.).↗ Example: The fox is a nut-stealer.↗ · A horse-stealer was caught at the gate.↗ · Stealers came in the night and took the grain.↗

stealeth — Early Modern English, meaning 1: «stealeth» means «steals», a form of «steal».↗ e.g. To take something that belongs to someone else without permission and without meaning to give it back.↗ Example: And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.↗ (Torah EXO.21.16, JPS 1917)

stealth — Everyday, meaning 1: Stealth is moving or acting quietly and secretly so that no one notices you.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Stealth technology makes planes, ships or other machines hard to detect by radar.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (games) Stealth is a style of video game or play where you sneak past enemies instead of fighting.↗ Example: The cat crept towards the bird with great stealth.↗ · The spies entered the castle by stealth.↗ · A stealth plane is hard to see on radar.↗ · Owls hunt with stealth because their feathers make almost no sound.↗ · I used stealth to get a biscuit without Mum noticing.↗ · In the game, stealth mode lets you sneak past guards.↗ · Tigers rely on stealth, not speed, to get close.↗ · And the people got them by stealth that day into the city, as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.↗ (Prophets 2SA.19.4, JPS 1917)↗

stealthily — Everyday, meaning 1: Stealthily means quietly and secretly, so that nobody hears or sees you.↗ Example: She crept stealthily down the stairs.↗ · The cat moved stealthily towards the bird.↗ · He opened the box stealthily.↗

stealthy — Everyday, meaning 1: Stealthy means quiet and secret, moving so as not to be heard or seen.↗ Example: The stealthy cat crossed the yard.↗ · We heard stealthy steps on the stairs.↗ · A stealthy thief took the purse.↗

steam — Everyday, meaning 1: Steam is the hot white mist that rises from boiling water.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In science, steam is water as a gas (water vapour), made when water is heated to 100 °C.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To steam means to give off steam: the soup is steaming.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To steam food means to cook it over boiling water.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: Steam is the power from steam that drove old trains and engines.↗ Example: Steam rose from the kettle.↗ · Keep your hand away from the steam; it can burn you.↗ · Water turns into steam when it boils.↗ · The bathroom mirror was covered in drops after the steam from the shower.↗ · Mum steamed the broccoli.↗ · We rode on an old steam train.↗ · The children let off steam in the playground.↗ · By the end of the race, I ran out of steam.↗ · 41) Our author means to say that the water has a great disposition to unite itself with the caloric, thus for instance is the fire latent in steam, but the air equipoises them.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877)↗

steamboat — Everyday, meaning 1: A boat driven by a steam engine, often with a large paddle wheel, used especially on rivers in the 1800s.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A steamboat can also be an imagined flying machine powered by steam.↗ Example: The steamboat puffed slowly up the Mississippi River.↗ · Mark Twain once piloted steamboats.↗ · Steamboats carried cotton and passengers in the 1800s.↗ · Mickey Mouse first whistled in "Steamboat Willie."↗ · We went on a steamboat trip on the lake.↗ · The steamboat's paddle wheel churned the water.↗ · The air steamboat flies over the country whence Columbus went forth, where Cortez was born, and where Calderon sang dramas in sounding verse.↗

steamer — Everyday, meaning 1: A ship or boat driven by a steam engine; a steamship.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A pan or pot with holes in it that sits over boiling water to cook food in the steam.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A machine that uses steam to clean things or take creases out of clothes.↗ Example: We sailed across the lake on an old paddle steamer.↗ · The steamer blew its whistle as it left the harbour.↗ · Mum cooks broccoli in a steamer so it stays green.↗ · The waves from the steamer rocked the little rowing boat.↗ · Thousands of people crossed the Atlantic on great steamers.↗ · The dry cleaner used a steamer to smooth the wrinkled dress.↗ · Be careful: steam from the steamer can burn your hand.↗ · Steamer after steamer, crowded with people, glides down the Seine.↗

steamroller — Everyday, meaning 1: A heavy machine with big, wide rollers that flattens roads; once powered by steam, now usually by diesel (often called a road roller).↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb, informal) To force something through or defeat someone easily with great power, ignoring objections.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (noun, figurative) A force that crushes all opposition.↗ Example: The steamroller flattened the new road.↗ · The cartoon cat was squashed flat by a steamroller.↗ · The team steamrollered their opponents 8–0.↗ · The boss steamrollered the plan through the meeting.↗ · Old steamrollers puff smoke at the vintage show.↗ · We watched the steamroller go slowly back and forth.↗

steamship — Everyday, meaning 1: A large ship driven by a steam engine, which burns coal or oil to boil water and make steam.↗ Example: The family sailed to Australia on a steamship.↗ · Steamships did not need wind to move.↗ · The Titanic was a huge steamship.↗ · Smoke poured from the steamship's funnels.↗ · A steamship could cross the ocean faster than a sailing ship.↗ · The museum has a model of an old steamship.↗ · If a steamship travels 20 km each hour, it covers 120 km in 6 hours.↗ · It was his opinion that he had really made as great a journey as if he had travelled in a steamship, a railway carriage, or a post-chaise.↗

steamy — Everyday, meaning 1: Full of steam, the hot water vapour.↗ e.g. "a steamy bathroom".↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Hot and wet, like the air in a rainforest.↗ e.g. "a steamy jungle".↗ Example: The bathroom was steamy after my shower.↗ · The windows were steamy, so I drew a smiley face.↗ · The rainforest is hot and steamy.↗ · A steamy bowl of soup sat on the table.↗ · The kitchen got steamy while the pasta cooked.↗ · Open a window to let the steamy air out.↗

steed — Everyday, meaning 1: (old use, in fairy tales and legends) A steed is a horse, especially a fine or strong one that a knight or hero rides.↗ Early Modern English, meaning 1: A horse, especially a fine or strong one that a knight or hero rides.↗ Example: The knight mounted his steed.↗ · The steed galloped over the hill.↗ · The steeds raced across the plain.↗ · I have compared thee, O my love, to a steed in Pharaoh's chariots.↗ (Writings SNG.1.9, JPS 1917)↗ · Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where it should be, every man according to his charge.↗ (Prophets 1KI.5.8, JPS 1917)↗ · Bind the chariots to the swift steeds, O inhabitant of Lachish; she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel are found in thee.↗ (Prophets MIC.1.13, JPS 1917)↗ · “Gallop on, gallop on, my pretty steed!↗ (The Adventures of Pinocchio) · Scentest thou some ill?’↗ The steed replied:↗ (The Red Fairy Book) · "Ha!" cried one, "it is the miser's steed.↗ (Fifty Famous Stories Retold)

steel — Everyday, meaning 1: A very strong, hard metal made mostly from iron mixed with a little carbon, used for bridges, cars, tools, pans and cutlery.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: As a verb, to steel yourself means to make yourself brave and ready for something hard or scary.↗ Example: The bridge is made of steel and concrete.↗ · Our kitchen sink is stainless steel.↗ · A magnet sticks to the steel door of the fridge.↗ · Steel is made mostly from iron.↗ · The old steel gate was covered in rust.↗ · She steeled herself before jumping into the cold pool.↗ · The band played music on steel drums.↗ · Knives and forks are often made of steel.↗ · The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet; the chariots are fire of steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are made to quiver.↗ (Prophets NAM.2.4, JPS 1917)↗

steelman — Everyday, meaning 1: To steelman someone's argument is to describe it in its strongest, fairest form before you answer it, even if you disagree.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A steelman is that strongest version of the other side's argument.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (rare, old) A steelman can also be a man who works making steel.↗ Example: Before you disagree, try to steelman your friend's idea.↗ · Let's steelman the argument for a longer school day.↗ · She steelmanned the other team's point so well that they thanked her.↗ · A straw man makes the other side look silly; a steelman makes it look its best.↗ · In our debate club we must steelman before we argue back.↗ · Can you steelman why some people want to ban phones in schools?↗ · Steelmanning helps you find the truth instead of just winning.↗

steelworks — Everyday, meaning 1: A steelworks is a factory where steel is made from iron and other materials, using huge furnaces.↗ Example: My grandad worked at the steelworks for forty years.↗ · The steelworks glowed orange at night.↗ · The town was sad when the steelworks closed.↗ · In science we learned how a steelworks turns iron into steel.↗ · There are two steelworks near the coast.↗ · The old steelworks is now a museum.↗

steely — Everyday, meaning 1: Made of steel, or grey and shiny like steel.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Hard, strong and determined; not showing soft feelings: «a steely stare», «steely determination».↗ Example: She gave him a steely look and he stopped talking.↗ · The sky was a steely grey before the storm.↗ · With steely determination, she finished the race.↗ · The captain spoke in a steely voice.↗ · Badger had a steely glint in his eye before the battle.↗ · The sea looked steely and cold.↗ · “Cecco,” he said in his most steely voice, “go back and fetch me out that doodle-doo.”↗