steep

Formssteeper, steepest

Formssteeps, steeping, steeped

Pluralsteeps

1. 1
   adjective

   Having a slope or surface that rises or falls at an angle close to vertical.

   The trail grew steeper as it approached the summit.

   Cyclists struggled against the steep gradient of the mountain road.

   Similarsheer, sharp, precipitous, abrupt

   Oppositegentle, shallow

   Note

   The everyday sense, though not the oldest. Old English stēap meant simply "high", and the obsolete "lofty" meaning keeps that older idea. Today the word measures an angle, so it suits anything with a gradient: a hill, a roof, an ascent, a barometric gradient, a railway climb of 1 in 100. Its opposites are shallow and gentle, as in a gentle slope or a shallow curve.

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To prepare tea or another beverage by letting leaves sit in hot water.

   She steeped the chamomile for five minutes to release its flavor.

   You should steep loose leaves a little longer than bagged ones.

   Similarbrew, infuse

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To soak or wet something thoroughly by leaving it in liquid.

   The recipe says to steep the dried mushrooms in warm broth.

   He steeped the wool in dye until the color set.

   Similarsoak, immerse, drench, saturate

   Note

   A different word from the adjective, despite the shared spelling. It came through Middle English from Old Norse steypa, "to pour out, cast down", although both words trace back to an Indo-European root meaning "to push". The verb works in two directions. You steep skins in a solution, and the tea is steeping: in the middle voice, the thing being soaked becomes the subject.

4. 4
   verbfigurativelytransitive

   To fill someone or something thoroughly with an influence, subject, or tradition, or to be deeply immersed in it.

   Novelists who steep themselves in a period's letters and diaries tend to get the small details right.

   The talks were steeped in mistrust from the very first day.

   Similarimmerse, imbue, saturate, infuse

   Note

   Here the soaking meaning turns into influence: a town steeped in history has absorbed it the way leaves take in water. The verb lives mostly in the participle steeped in, as in scholars steeped in Latin or brothers steeped in blood. It also takes a reflexive object, as in steep yourself in the classics. A bare steep in, with nothing being soaked, sounds wrong.

5. 5
   adjectivecolloquial

   Higher in price than seems reasonable; costly.

   The repair bill was steeper than we had budgeted for.

   Tickets to the concert were steep, but fans paid anyway.

   Similarexpensive, pricey, costly, stiff, exorbitant

   Oppositecheap, reasonable

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A sharply sloping side of a mountain or hill; an abrupt upward slope.

   Climbers roped together before tackling the icy steep.

   From the road, the steeps of the gorge rose dramatically on both sides.

   Similarslope, precipice, incline

   Note

   The adjective turned into a name for the slope itself. It usually takes the definite article, as in on the steep or the lofty steep in Benjamin Disraeli's The Wondrous Tale of Alroy (1833). The plural steeps names a run of such slopes. A slope can be gentle; a steep, by its very name, is sharp.

7. 7
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Liquid in which material is soaked during a soaking process.

   The corn sat in the warm steep for two days before milling.

   An acidic steep helps soften the kernels during processing.

   Similarbath, solution

   Note

   The liquid takes its name from the process. It pairs naturally with whatever was soaked, as in corn steep, which has many industrial uses. It can be counted, as in a warm steep or an acidic steep, or treated as a mass, like water or brine. Either way, it names the soaking liquid, not the material soaked in it.

8. 8
   adjective

   Of a mast or windshield, set at an angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular.

   The yacht's steep mast angle gave it a distinctive profile.

   Designers compared a steeper windshield against the standard model.

   Note

   Here the word runs against its usual direction. A steep rake on a mast or windshield leans well away from the upright, while the hillside meaning describes a surface close to vertical. The noun it nearly always qualifies is rake, as in the steep rake of a windshield. That pairing is the safest guide: a steep rake means a strong lean, not a near-upright stance.

9. 9
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A calf's stomach or its lining, used as a source of rennet to curdle milk.

   The cheesemaker drew curdling liquid from the steep each morning.

   An old recipe called for a piece of steep to set the milk.

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