steel guitar

noun

plural steel guitars
: any of various electric or acoustic stringed instruments (such as the Hawaiian guitar, the pedal steel, or the lap steel) that feature a metal resonator or that are played by moving a rigid object (such as a steel or glass bar) against plucked strings
steel guitarist noun
plural steel guitarists

Examples of steel guitar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Max Bernstein rocks out on the guitar, keyboards and pedal steel, which is a steel guitar with pedals and knee levers. Bryan West, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024 And lately, the group has been building on that foundation by experimenting in the studio, merging their signature style with muted drums, synths, and even steel guitars that bring George Strait to mind. Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2024 Much of the 17 hours on the retreat was devoted to the demo, which included enough steel guitar and Dobro to insert a little Western flare into the mysterious sound. Tom Roland, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2024 The multi-instrumentalist from Phoenix has played steel guitar, banjo and more in Case’s touring band for more than 20 years, but had to pull out of a summer tour in 2021 while undergoing treatment for the prostate cancer he’d been diagnosed with earlier that year. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 8 Feb. 2024 This gorgeous ballad brims with aching fiddle and is slathered in steel guitar, while her collaborators — Country Music Hall of Fame members Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs — are no slouches, either. Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 25 Sep. 2023 In response, artists like Strait, Reba, and Randy Travis led a neo-traditional wave, defined by a return to a rootsy western sound (swaying songs full of fiddle and steel guitar) and flaunting your country bonafides. Vulture, 18 Sep. 2023 With a steel guitar, the string spacing is very, very narrow. Chris Willman, Variety, 6 Aug. 2023 Along with the Brauns and Nazz, Reckless’ current makeup includes Joe Miller on bass guitar and Geoff Queen on steel guitar. Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 15 Dec. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'steel guitar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of steel guitar was in 1910

Dictionary Entries Near steel guitar

Cite this Entry

“Steel guitar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steel%20guitar. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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