steel wool

noun

1. a tangled or matted mass of stringlike steel shavings, used for scouring, polishing, smoothing, etc.

steel wool

noun

1. a tangled or woven mass of fine steel fibres, used for cleaning or polishing

Word History and Origins

Origin of steel wool¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Work stubborn areas with steel wool and wipe them with a rag.

From Seattle Times

Lewis also recommends using steel wool with a grade of 0000, the finest type of wool that will not scratch surfaces.

From Seattle Times

His Jewish Cuban father owned a steel wool factory; his mother, a Jewish Romanian, narrowly survived the Holocaust when her family caught one of the last ships to Cuba.

From Los Angeles Times

The artist often uses steel wool as a paintbrush to create tiny dots of paint, in a contemporary spin on Pointillism.

From New York Times

The author of the post worked in the second application with superfine 0000 steel wool, but using a synthetic pad would be safer.

From Washington Post