Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire.
Shak.
Steep"en (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Steepened (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Steepening.] To become steep or steeper.
As the way steepened . . . I could detect in the hollow of the hill
some traces of the old path.
H. Miller.
Steep"er (?), n. A vessel, vat, or cistern, in which things are
steeped.
Steep"i*ness (?), n. Steepness. Howell.
Steep"ish, a. Somewhat steep. Carlyle.
Stee"ple (?), n. [OE. stepel, AS. stpel, st&?;pel; akin to E. steep,
a.] (Arch.) A spire; also, the tower and spire taken together; the
whole of a structure if the roof is of spire form. See Spire. "A
weathercock on a steeple." Shak.
Rood steeple. See Rood tower, under Rood. -- Steeple bush (Bot.), a low
shrub (Spiræa tomentosa) having dense panicles of minute rose-colored
flowers; hardhack. -- Steeple chase, a race across country between a
number of horsemen, to see which can first reach some distant object,
as a church steeple; hence, a race over a prescribed course obstructed
by such obstacles as one meets in riding across country, as hedges,
walls, etc. -- Steeple chaser, one who rides in a steeple chase; also,
a horse trained to run in a steeple chase. -- Steeple engine, a
vertical back- acting steam engine having the cylinder beneath the
crosshead. -- Steeple house, a church. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.
Stee"ple*chas`ing (?), n. The act of riding steeple chases.
Stee"ple-crowned` (?), a. 1. Bearing a steeple; as, a steeple- crowned
building.
2. Having a crown shaped like a steeple; as, a steeple-crowned hat;
also, wearing a hat with such a crown.
This grave, beared, sable-cloaked, and steeple- crowned progenitor.
Hawthorne.
Stee"pled (?), a. Furnished with, or having the form of, a steeple;
adorned with steeples. Fairfax.
Steep"ly (?), adv. In a steep manner; with steepness; with precipitous
declivity.
Steep"ness, n. 1. Quality or state of being steep; precipitous
declivity; as, the steepnessof a hill or a roof.