a lap-held steel-strung guitar with a wood or metal body, tuned to an open chord and played with a slide
Compare Dobro, pedal steel guitar
Hawaiian guitar in American English
steel guitar
Hawaiian guitar in American English
noun
a six-to-eight-string electric guitar, fretted with a piece of metal or bone to produce a whining, glissando sound, played in a horizontal position usually resting on the performer's knees or on a stand, and much used by country music performers
Also called: steel guitar
Word origin
[1925–30]This word is first recorded in the period 1925–30. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: buildup, off-line, payload, recycle, reflex camera