steeping

Pluralsteepings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of steep.

   The dried fruit is steeping in warm syrup to soak up the sweetness.

   Steeping the herbs too long can turn the drink bitter.

   Note

   The -ing form belongs to the verb alone. The adjective steep, used of sharp slopes and high prices, has no share in it. The verb works in both directions: you can be steeping tea, or leave the tea steeping. Figuratively, a person or a place can be steeping in something that soaks into it. As a gerund it names the process, as in steeping the leaves too long, rather than a single soaking.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   An act of soaking something in liquid; a thorough wetting.

   A slow steeping in brine gave the olives their deep flavor.

   The recipe calls for an overnight steeping of the dried mushrooms.

   Similarsoaking, immersion, infusion

   Note

   This word belongs to the maltster as much as to the cook. George Adolphus Wigney's An Elementary Dictionary (1838) warns that the first "wettings or steepings" of grain each malting season make poorer malt than later steepings. Used countably, it numbers separate soakings, as in a second steeping or successive steepings. Used uncountably, it names the process, as in the steeping of barley.

3. 3
   nounhistoricalcountable

   A sterling penny made with less silver, used in Ireland in the 1200s and prohibited during Edward I's reign.

   The trader weighed each steeping carefully, suspicious of its thin silver.

   Royal officials seized every steeping they found in the market stalls.

   Note

   A different word altogether, named for a man rather than for soaking. It comes from Stephen de Fulbourn, bishop of Waterford, archbishop of Tuam, and treasurer and justiciar of Ireland in the 1270s and 1280s. It belongs to the history of medieval Irish coinage. In that setting, steepings in the plural are the debased pennies themselves, not repeated soakings.

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