steep
pronunciation
How to pronounce steep in British English:
UK [stiːp]
How to pronounce steep in American English:
US [stiːp]
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- Noun:
- a steep place (as on a hill)
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- Verb:
- engross (oneself) fully
- let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse
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- Adjective:
- having a sharp inclination
- greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
- of a slope; set at a high angle
Word Origin
- steep
- steep: English has two words steep. The adjective, ‘precipitous’ [OE], originally meant ‘very high’. It came from the prehistoric Germanic base *staup-, *stūp-, which also produced English steeple [OE] (etymologically a ‘high’ tower) and stoop [OE]. The verb steep ‘soak’ [14] probably came via an unrecorded Old English *stīepan from prehistoric Germanic *staupjan. This was formed from the base *staup-, *stup-, which also produced English stoup ‘water vessel’ [14] (a borrowing from Old Norse).=> steeple, stoop, stoup
- steep (adj.)
- "having a sharp slope," Old English steap "high, lofty; deep; prominent, projecting," from Proto-Germanic *staupaz (cognates: Old Frisian stap "high, lofty," Middle High German *stouf), from PIE *steup-, extended form of root *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat," with derivations referring to projecting objects (cognates: Greek typtein "to strike," typos "a blow, mold, die;" Sanskrit tup- "harm," tundate "pushes, stabs;" Gothic stautan "push;" Old Norse stuttr "short"). The sense of "precipitous" is from c. 1200. The slang sense "at a high price" is a U.S. coinage first attested 1856. Related: Steeply; steepness. The noun meaning "steep place" is from 1550s.
- steep (v.)
- "to soak in a liquid," early 14c., of uncertain origin, originally in reference to barley or malt, probably cognate with Old Norse steypa "to pour out, throw" (perhaps from an unrecorded Old English cognate), from Proto-Germanic *staupijanan. Related: Steeped; steeping.
Example
- 1. This force would lead to steep price curve against time .
- 2. And the epr 's steep price was deterring customers .
- 3. Sediment is deposited on a small and steep alluvial fan .
- 4. Removing it from heat . Let steep for 10 minutes .
- 5. Neighborhoods sometimes spring up on steep hillsides or floodplains , leaving them vulnerable to storms .