The words steal and steel are homophones: they sound alike but have different meanings.
The verb steal means to take someone else's property without right or permission. Steal can also mean to move secretly.
As both a noun and an adjective, steel refers to a hard alloy of iron and carbon. Used figuratively, steel means hard, strong, and tough. As a verb, steel means to strengthen.
Examples:
- "The number one rule of thieves is that nothing is too small to steal."
(Jimmy Breslin)
- Blues singer Brownie McGhee played with a steel pick on a steel guitar.
Practice:
(a) The finest _____ has to go through the hottest fire.
(b) "She liked to drag her fingers along the chain-link fences we passed, and to stop at Maverick Market to buy Diet Cokes and _____ candy bars. I waited outside, worrying she'd get caught."
(Bret Anthony Johnston, "Soldier of Fortune." Glimmer Train, Winter 2011)
Answers to Practice Exercises