pedal steel

noun

variants or pedal steel guitar

plural pedal steels or pedal steel guitars

: a box-shaped electric steel guitar with legs that has usually 10 strings which can be altered in pitch by the use of pedals and which are plucked while being pressed with a movable steel bar

[Ben] Keith broke into the business playing pedal steel on Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" …

—Kevin Dettmar

compare hawaiian guitar, lap steel

Examples of pedal steel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Swaths of pedal steel and a relentless percussion give the song drive and energy, while their voices have a seamless chemistry. —Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 29 Sep. 2025

A touch of piano and pedal steel guitar bracket verses that swing upward to meet a chorus steeped in Sheeran’s authentically raw vocals. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025

Robby Turner, the pedal steel guitarist whose soulful mastery of the instrument is embedded in stardom-redefining songs for Waylon Jennings, Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton, has died. —Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean, 6 Sep. 2025

Morgane Stapleton remains his greatest onstage foil Stapleton has put together quite the touring band, a stage full of stellar musicians, each one adding to the magic on their instrument of choice — pedal steel, keyboards, a second guitar, bass and drums. —Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 9 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pedal steel

• afebrile
• bookmobile
• cochineal
• nonideal
• peroneal
• philomel
• popliteal
• snowmobile
• waterwheel
• abele
• alkyl
• anneal