Word Study
steep
CIDE DICTIONARY
steep, a.
Bright; glittering; fiery. [1913 Webster]
"His eyen steep, and rolling in his head." [1913 Webster]
steep, v. t. [OE. stepen, probably fr. Icel. steypa to cause to stoop, cast down, pour out, to cast metals, causative of st to stoop; cf. Sw. stöpa to cast, to steep, Dan. stöbe, D. & G. stippen to steep, to dip. Cf. Stoop, v. 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. [1913 Webster]
"Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep." [1913 Webster]
"In refreshing dew to steep
The little, trembling flowers." [1913 Webster]
The little, trembling flowers." [1913 Webster]
"The learned of the nation were steeped in Latin." [1913 Webster]
steep, v. i.
To undergo the process of soaking in a liquid; as, the tea is steeping. [1913 Webster]
steep, n.
- Something steeped, or used in steeping; a fertilizing liquid to hasten the germination of seeds. [1913 Webster]
- A rennet bag. [1913 Webster]
steep, a. [OE. steep, step, AS. steáp; akin to Icel. steyp steep, and st to stoop, Sw. stupa to fall, to tilt; cf. OFries. stap high. Cf. Stoop, v. i. , Steep, v. t. , Steeple.].
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- Difficult of access; not easily reached; lofty; elevated; high. Chapman. [1913 Webster]
- Excessive; as, a steep price. [1913 Webster]
steep, n.
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. [1913 Webster]
"We had on each side naked rocks and mountains broken into a thousand irregular steeps and precipices." [1913 Webster]
"Bare steeps, where desolation stalks." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
steep, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 sloping sharply; almost perpendicular (a steep hill; steep stairs).
2 (of a rise or fall) rapid (a steep drop in share prices).
3 (predic.) colloq. a (of a demand, price, etc.) exorbitant; unreasonable (esp. a bit steep). b (of a story etc.) exaggerated; incredible.
--n. a steep slope; a precipice.
--adj.
1 sloping sharply; almost perpendicular (a steep hill; steep stairs).
2 (of a rise or fall) rapid (a steep drop in share prices).
3 (predic.) colloq. a (of a demand, price, etc.) exorbitant; unreasonable (esp. a bit steep). b (of a story etc.) exaggerated; incredible.
--n. a steep slope; a precipice.
Derivative
steepen v.intr. & tr. steepish adj. steeply adv. steepness n.
steep, v. & n.
--v.tr. soak or bathe in liquid.
--n.
1 the act or process of steeping.
2 the liquid for steeping.
--v.tr. soak or bathe in liquid.
--n.
1 the act or process of steeping.
2 the liquid for steeping.
Idiom
steep in 1 pervade or imbue with (steeped in misery).
2 make deeply acquainted with (a subject etc.) (steeped in the classics).
2 make deeply acquainted with (a subject etc.) (steeped in the classics).
Etymology
ME f. OE f. Gmc (as STOUP)
THESAURUS
steep
Herculean, Olympian, Olympian heights, a bit much, abandoned, abrupt, abstruse, acme, aerial, aerial heights, airy, altitudinous, apex, arduous, ascending, aspiring, bathe, besprinkle, bluff, bold, boundless, breakneck, breathe, brew, brutal, bury, cliff, color, colossal, complex, concentrate, costly, crag, critical, dear, dear-bought, decoct, delicate, demanding, difficile, difficult, distill, dizzy heights, dominating, douche, douse, dredge, drench, drouk, dye, egregious, elevated, elevation, eminence, eminent, enormous, entincture, escarpment, essentialize, ether, ethereal, exacting, exaggerated, exalted, excessive, exorbitant, expensive, express, extortionate, extravagant, extreme, fabulous, face, fancy, fill, flavor, flush, formidable, gigantic, gluttonous, hairy, hard, hard-earned, hard-fought, haughty, headlong, heaven, heavens, height, heights, high, high-pitched, high-priced, high-reaching, high-set, high-up, hyperbolic, hypertrophied, imbrue, imbue, immerse, immoderate, impregnate, incontinent, infiltrate, infuse, ingrain, inject, inoculate, inordinate, instill, intemperate, intricate, inundate, invest, jawbreaking, knotted, knotty, laborious, lave, leach, leaven, lift, lixiviate, lofty, luxurious, macerate, marinate, mean, melt down, monstrous, monumental, mounting, no picnic, not affordable, not easy, of great cost, operose, orthodiagonal, orthogonal, out of bounds, out of sight, outrageous, outtopping, overbig, overdeveloped, overgreat, overgrown, overlarge, overlooking, overmuch, overpriced, overtopping, overweening, palisade, palisades, penetrate, percolate, permeate, perpendicular, pervade, pickle, plumb, plunging, precipice, precipitous, premium, press out, pricey, prominent, raise, rapid, refine, render, rich, right-angle, right-angled, right-angular, rigorous, rinse, rise, rising ground, rough, rugged, saturate, scar, scarp, season, seethe, set with thorns, severe, sharp, sheer, sky, soak, soaring, sodden, sop, souse, spiny, spiring, stiff, straight-up, straight-up-and-down, stratosphere, strenuous, sublime, submerge, suffuse, sumptuous, superlative, supernal, temper, thorny, ticklish, tincture, tinge, toilsome, too much, top, topless, toplofty, topping, tough, towering, towery, transfuse, tricky, unbridled, unconscionable, undue, unpayable, unreasonable, unrestrained, up-and-down, uphill, uplifted, upreared, uprise, vantage ground, vantage point, vertical, wall, wash, waterlog, wet, wicked, wring, wring out, zenithROGET THESAURUS
steep
Water
VB be watery, reek, add water, water, wet, moisten, dilute, dip, immerse, merge, immerge, submerge, plunge, souse, duck, drown, soak, steep, macerate, pickle, wash, sprinkle, lave, bathe, affuse, splash, swash, douse, drench, dabble, slop, slobber, irrigate, inundate, deluge, syringe, inject, gargle.For further exploring for "steep" in Webster Dictionary Online
