WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Stee"ple
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. stepel, AS. stepel, st; akin to E. steep, a.] (Arch.)
Definition : Defn: 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 (Spir?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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913