steeple

[stee-puh l]

See more synonyms for steeple on Thesaurus.com

noun

an ornamental construction, usually ending in a spire, erected on a roof or tower of a church, public building, etc.
a tower terminating in such a construction.
(loosely) a spire.

verb (used with object), stee·pled, stee·pling.

to provide with or form into a steeple or steeplelike configuration.

Origin of steeple

before 1000; Middle English stepel steeple, tower, Old English stēpel tower. See steep¹, -le

Related formsstee·pled, adjectivestee·ple·less, adjectivestee·ple·like, adjectiveun·stee·pled, adjective

Can be confusedspire steeple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for steeple

cupola, turret, spire, minaret, belfry, ziggurat, campanile

Examples from the Web for steeple

Contemporary Examples of steeple

Note to Wall Street tourists: If you need to pee, look for the steeple.
Ringing in the New Year on Wall Street
Beau Willimon
January 5, 2010

Historical Examples of steeple

But the steeple stands foremost, in our thoughts, as well as locally.
Sunday at Home (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
House of God, a building with a steeple and a mortgage on it.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
But then it came in my head, 'How if the steeple itself should fall?'
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Toward the building with half a steeple Mr. Bangs started forthwith.
Galusha the Magnificent
Joseph C. Lincoln
Come, take that parson's steeple hat and his cloak, and let us be going.
The Tavern Knight
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for steeple

steeple

noun

a tall ornamental tower that forms the superstructure of a church, temple, etc
such a tower with the spire above it
any spire or pointed structure

Derived Formssteepled, adjective

Word Origin for steeple

Old English stēpel; see steep 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for steeple

Old English stepel (Mercian), stiepel (West Saxon) "high tower" (related to steap "high, lofty"), from Proto-Germanic *staupilaz (see steep (adj.)).