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Webster 1913 Edition

Steep

Steep

(stēp)
,
Adj.
Bright; glittering; fiery.
[Obs.]
His eyen
steep
, and rolling in his head.
Chaucer.

Steep

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Steeped
(stēpt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Steeping
.]
[OE.
stepen
, probably fr. Icel.
steypa
to cause to stoop, cast down, pour out, to cast metals, causative of
stūpa
to stoop; cf. Sw.
stöpa
to cast, to steep, Dan.
stöbe
, D. & G.
stippen
to steep, to dip. Cf.
Stoop
,
Verb.
I.
]
To soak in a liquid; to macerate; to extract the essence of by soaking;
as, to soften seed by
steeping
it in water
. Often used figuratively.
Let fancy still my sense in Lethe
steep
.
Shakespeare
In refreshing dew to
steep

The little, trembling flowers.
Wordsworth.
The learned of the nation were
steeped
in Latin.
Earle.

Steep

,
Verb.
I.
To undergo the process of soaking in a liquid;
as, the tea is
steeping
.
[Colloq.]

Steep

,
Noun.
1.
Something steeped, or used in steeping; a fertilizing liquid to hasten the germination of seeds.
2.
A rennet bag.
[Prov. Eng.]

Steep

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Steeper
(-ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Steepest
.]
[OE.
steep
,
step
, AS.
steáp
; akin to Icel.
steypðr
steep, and
stūpa
to stoop, Sw.
stupa
to fall, to tilt; cf. OFries.
stap
high. Cf.
Stoop
,
Verb.
I.
,
Steep
,
Verb.
T.
,
Steeple
.]
1.
Making a large angle with the plane of the horizon; ascending or descending rapidly with respect to a horizontal line or a level; precipitous;
as, a
steep
hill or mountain; a
steep
roof; a
steep
ascent; a
steep
declivity; a
steep
barometric gradient
.
2.
Difficult of access; not easily reached; lofty; elevated; high.
[Obs.]
Chapman.
3.
Excessive;
as, a
steep
price
.
[Slang]

Steep

,
Noun.
A precipitous place, hill, mountain, rock, or ascent; any elevated object sloping with a large angle to the plane of the horizon; a precipice.
Dryden.
We had on each side naked rocks and mountains broken into a thousand irregular
steeps
and precipices.
Addison.
Bare
steeps
, where desolation stalks.
Wordsworth.

Webster 1828 Edition

Steep

STEEP

,
Adj.
Making a large angle with the plane of the horizon; ascending or descending with a great inclination; precipitous; as a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep declivity.

STEEP

,
Noun.
A precipitous place, hill, mountain, rock or ascent; any elevated object which slopes with a large angle to the plane of the horizon; a precipice.
We had on each side rocks and mountains broken into a thousand irregular steps and precipices.

STEEP

,
Verb.
T.
[probably formed on the root of dip.] To soak in a liquid; to macerate; to imbue; to keep any thing in a liquid till it has thoroughly imbibed it, or till the liquor has extracted the essential qualities of the substance. Thus cloth is steeped in lye or other liquid in bleaching or dyeing. But plants and drugs are steeped in water, wine and the like, for the purpose of tincturing the liquid with their qualities.

STEEP

,
Noun.
A liquid for steeping grain or seeds; also, a runnet bag. [Local.]

Definition 2024

steep

steep

English

Adjective

steep ‎(comparative steeper, superlative steepest)

  1. Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.
    a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep barometric gradient
  2. (informal) expensive
    Twenty quid for a shave? That's a bit steep.
  3. (obsolete) Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Chapman to this entry?)
  4. (of the rake of a ship's mast, or a car's windshield) resulting in a mast or windshield angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular
    The steep rake of the windshield enhances the fast lines of the exterior.

Synonyms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English stepen, from Old Norse steypa ‎(“to make stoop, cast down, pour out, cast (metal)”)[2][3], from Proto-Germanic *staupijaną ‎(“to tumble, make tumble, plunge”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- ‎(“to push, hit”). Cognate with Danish støbe ‎(“cast (metal)”), Norwegian støpe, støype, Swedish stöpa ‎(“to found, cast (metal)”), Old English stūpian ‎(“to stoop, bend the back, slope”). More at stoop.

Verb

steep ‎(third-person singular simple present steeps, present participle steeping, simple past and past participle steeped)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To soak an item (or to be soaked) in liquid in order to gradually add or remove components to or from the item
    They steep skins in a tanning solution to create leather.
    The tea is steeping.
    • Wordsworth
      In refreshing dew to steep / The little, trembling flowers.
  2. (intransitive) To imbue with something.
    • Earle
      The learned of the nation were steeped in Latin.
    a town steeped in history
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

steep ‎(countable and uncountable, plural steeps)

  1. A liquid used in a steeping process
    Corn steep has many industrial uses.
  2. A rennet bag.
Translations

References

  1. 1 2 “steep” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
  2. ↑ Danish cognate in ODS: eng. (muligvis fra nordisk) steep
  3. ↑ steep in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Etymology

From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap ‎(“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz. Compare Old Frisian stāp, Dutch stoop ‎(“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf ‎(“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief ‎(“steep”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- ‎(“to push, stick”).[1] The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap ‎(“to strike, to forcibly insert”).

The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested US 1856.[1]

Pronunciation

  • enPR: stēp, IPA(key): /stiːp/
  • Rhymes: -iːp

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