See steelman in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "steel",
"3": "man"
},
"expansion": "steel + -man",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From steel + -man. For the second definition, coined as the inverse of straw man.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "steelmen",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "steelmen"
},
"expansion": "steelman (plural steelmen)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"A steelworker."
],
"id": "en-steelman-en-noun-lWRXQoB2",
"links": [
[
"steelworker",
"steelworker"
]
]
},
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "strawman"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "5 44 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms suffixed with -man",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2011 October 24, Luke Muehlhauser, “Better Disagreement”, in LessWrong:",
"text": "a \"steel man\" is an improvement of someone's position or argument that is harder to defeat than their originally stated position or argument.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012 July 7, Guy Srinivasan, “Wireheading Steelman”, in lw-seattle (Usenet):",
"text": "I want to make that strawman into a steelman, but I eliminated \"the pursuit of happiness\" from my to-do list so many years ago that I don't even know where I'd begin.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A stronger version of an argument that one is about to critically analyze."
],
"id": "en-steelman-en-noun-haMknojR",
"links": [
[
"strong",
"strong"
],
[
"argument",
"argument"
],
[
"analyze",
"analyze"
]
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "steel-man"
}
],
"word": "steelman"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "steel",
"3": "man"
},
"expansion": "steel + -man",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From steel + -man. For the second definition, coined as the inverse of straw man.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "steelmans",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "steelmanning",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "steelmanned",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "steelmanned",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "++"
},
"expansion": "steelman (third-person singular simple present steelmans, present participle steelmanning, simple past and past participle steelmanned)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "straw man#Verb"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English links with manual fragments",
"parents": [
"Links with manual fragments",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "4 34 63",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "5 44 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms suffixed with -man",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "4 21 75",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "4 12 85",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Coordinate term: sanewash (verb)"
},
{
"ref": "2012 July 7, Guy Srinivasan, “Wireheading Steelman”, in lw-seattle (Usenet):",
"text": "I don't agree with the argument, because of 4. If I were to steelman it, which I may try but after work or maybe during lunch, I would first try to make it impervious to this assault:",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2015 February 11, Daniel Armak, “Re: volunteers for feb 24.”, in LessWrong Tel Aviv (Usenet):",
"text": "It is possible that while preparing for the talk I will manage to convince myself that the problem is in fact resolved or dissolved. In that case I will treat you to my best steelmanning of the problem, and its resolution.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2015 June 18, rndn, “Going Deeper into Neural Networks”, in Hacker News (Usenet):",
"text": "Perhaps the argument should be steelmanned in that we should generally avoid using algorithms which are so complex that they aren't glass boxes.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2017 June 26, Conor Friedersdorf, “The Highest Form of Disagreement”, in The Atlantic:",
"text": "And America would benefit if our culture of argument elevated the opposite approach, steel-manning, “the art of addressing the best form of the other person’s argument, even if it’s not the one they presented.”",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To repair flaws in an argument before analyzing it critically; to refute or to weaken the force of a stronger version of an argument than what was actually given."
],
"id": "en-steelman-en-verb-DkchL2QD",
"links": [
[
"flaw",
"flaw"
],
[
"refute",
"refute"
],
[
"stronger",
"stronger"
],
[
"argument",
"argument"
]
],
"related": [
{
"word": "principle of charity"
}
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "steel-man"
}
],
"word": "steelman"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English terms suffixed with -man",
"English verbs",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "steel",
"3": "man"
},
"expansion": "steel + -man",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From steel + -man. For the second definition, coined as the inverse of straw man.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "steelmen",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "steelmen"
},
"expansion": "steelman (plural steelmen)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"A steelworker."
],
"links": [
[
"steelworker",
"steelworker"
]
]
},
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "strawman"
}
],
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2011 October 24, Luke Muehlhauser, “Better Disagreement”, in LessWrong:",
"text": "a \"steel man\" is an improvement of someone's position or argument that is harder to defeat than their originally stated position or argument.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012 July 7, Guy Srinivasan, “Wireheading Steelman”, in lw-seattle (Usenet):",
"text": "I want to make that strawman into a steelman, but I eliminated \"the pursuit of happiness\" from my to-do list so many years ago that I don't even know where I'd begin.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A stronger version of an argument that one is about to critically analyze."
],
"links": [
[
"strong",
"strong"
],
[
"argument",
"argument"
],
[
"analyze",
"analyze"
]
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "steel-man"
}
],
"word": "steelman"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English terms suffixed with -man",
"English verbs",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "steel",
"3": "man"
},
"expansion": "steel + -man",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From steel + -man. For the second definition, coined as the inverse of straw man.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "steelmans",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "steelmanning",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "steelmanned",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "steelmanned",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "++"
},
"expansion": "steelman (third-person singular simple present steelmans, present participle steelmanning, simple past and past participle steelmanned)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "principle of charity"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "straw man#Verb"
}
],
"categories": [
"English links with manual fragments",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Coordinate term: sanewash (verb)"
},
{
"ref": "2012 July 7, Guy Srinivasan, “Wireheading Steelman”, in lw-seattle (Usenet):",
"text": "I don't agree with the argument, because of 4. If I were to steelman it, which I may try but after work or maybe during lunch, I would first try to make it impervious to this assault:",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2015 February 11, Daniel Armak, “Re: volunteers for feb 24.”, in LessWrong Tel Aviv (Usenet):",
"text": "It is possible that while preparing for the talk I will manage to convince myself that the problem is in fact resolved or dissolved. In that case I will treat you to my best steelmanning of the problem, and its resolution.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2015 June 18, rndn, “Going Deeper into Neural Networks”, in Hacker News (Usenet):",
"text": "Perhaps the argument should be steelmanned in that we should generally avoid using algorithms which are so complex that they aren't glass boxes.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2017 June 26, Conor Friedersdorf, “The Highest Form of Disagreement”, in The Atlantic:",
"text": "And America would benefit if our culture of argument elevated the opposite approach, steel-manning, “the art of addressing the best form of the other person’s argument, even if it’s not the one they presented.”",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To repair flaws in an argument before analyzing it critically; to refute or to weaken the force of a stronger version of an argument than what was actually given."
],
"links": [
[
"flaw",
"flaw"
],
[
"refute",
"refute"
],
[
"stronger",
"stronger"
],
[
"argument",
"argument"
]
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "steel-man"
}
],
"word": "steelman"
}
Download raw JSONL data for steelman meaning in English (4.4kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (95d2be1 and 64224ec). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.