English Dictionary: STEEPLE | by the DICT Development Group |
2 results for STEEPLE | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Steeple \Stee"ple\, n. [OE. stepel, AS. st[c7]pel, 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}. [bd]A weathercock on a steeple.[b8] --Shak. {Rood steeple}. See {Rood tower}, under {Rood}. {Steeple bush} (Bot.), a low shrub ({Spir[91]a 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. |