steelie
/ˈstiːli/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.08 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A zinc-coated steel one-cent (penny) coin, produced during World War II because of copper shortages.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "the jewel of his collection, a steelie from 1943"
- "the heaviest in his collection, an old steelie from the junkyard"
- "The steelies were just balls of steel, industrially ugly and not part of most girls' collections. There were four sizes of marbles and we called them boulders, biggies, regulars, and teenies."
- "old Mopars wearing steelies with dog dishes"
- "Better wear your steelies when he's around. [implying that he is clumsy]"
Etymology
From steel + -ie.
Word Breakdown
Usage
- American usage
- Colloquial
- Informal