like a steel trap
steel
verb
uk /stiːl/ us /stiːl/
 steel yourself
to force yourself to get ready to do something unpleasant or difficult: 下决心做;横下心
[ + to infinitive ]She steeled herself to jump out of the plane.她心一横，跳出了飞机。
I had to steel myself to be firm with her.
We knew there was likely to be a recession and steeled ourselves for a fall in profits.
When he made the announcement, he knew he would have to steel himself for the criticism that would follow.
If you apply for jobs at this level, you have to steel yourself against rejection.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Preparing
batten
batten down the hatchesidiom
break someone in
bug-out bag
build (someone/something) up
cue
dig
gear (someone/something) up
gear something to/towards someone/something
get/have your ducks in a rowidiom
gird
gird yourselfidiom
lay
prep
re-rack
regroom
roll up your sleevesidiom
set something up
set the scene/stageidiom
tee

steel | American Dictionary

steel
noun[ U ]
us/stil/

steelnoun[U] (METAL)

a strong metal that is made by processing iron to remove some of the carbon:
steel doors/girders
the steel industry
steel
verb[ T ]
us/stil/

steelverb[T] (PREPARE)

to prepare yourself to be able to do something unpleasant or difficult:
She steeled herself to face her accusers.

steel | Business English

steel
noun[ U ]
 PRODUCTIONuk /stiːl/us
a strong metal that is a mixture of iron and carbon, used for making things that need a strong structure, especially vehicles and buildings:
They have an annual production of about two million tons of steel.
steel rod/girder/containerThe concrete is strengthened with steel rods.
steel imports/exports/prices
a steel plant/factory
the industry that produces steel:
The area's main industries are cement, iron, and steel.
He asked the U.S Congress to move swiftly to aid the state's ailing steel industry.
steel company/group/giantThe company has become one of the region's most influential steel giants.
steel jobs/workers

Examples of steel

steel
The two steels can be identified from results obtained despite the range of values recorded.
We found steels to be quite sensitive to the axial alignment of the deforming force.
Small quantities of other transition metals can also be added to make special steels.
The mental health of those without such early preparatory or steeling experience would be more compromised by work stressors in early adulthood.
By taking into account subsequent circumstances, we are able to test the "stress-sensitizing" and steeling hypotheses directly.
High resistance to helium embrittlement in reduced activation mar tensitic steels.
The behaviour of a suspension bridge is predicted from tests on steels in a laboratory and the bridge stands up.
The constituent of steels believed to have the greatest effect upon the properties of the material is carbon.
Carbon steels are iron based metals, containing carbon, small amounts of manganese and silicon, and traces of other elements.
The following table indicates the percentage range of carbon content found in steels, and their subsequent classification.
Carbon steels are often classified by the relative amounts of carbon content which is found in their composition.
Under these the craftsmen skilfully handled their special steels.
People either avoided them, found new companions or steeled themselves to travel alone to a close relative's house.
By the 1880s, iron and steel's great market, the new railways, was nearly exhausted.
Tempering is a subcritical heat treatment process used to improve the toughness of quench hardened steels.
See all examples of steel
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations withsteel

steel

These are words often used in combination with steel.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

cold steel
Convinced of e the justice of their cause, revolutionary troops bore down with coldsteel on the terrified hirelings of despots.
corrugated steel
The woodstore is simplicity itself, and appropriately defers to the kiln that it shelters beneath its corrugatedsteel roof.
exposed steel
Exposed steel construction was envisaged, with a stainless-steel skin that would exploit local skills, another factor that appealed to the assessors.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with steel