steeple

[ stee-puhl ]
See synonyms for steeple on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an ornamental construction, usually ending in a spire, erected on a roof or tower of a church, public building, etc.

  2. a tower terminating in such a construction.

  1. (loosely) a spire.

verb (used with object),stee·pled, stee·pling.
  1. to provide with or form into a steeple or steeplelike configuration.

Origin of steeple

1
before 1000; Middle English stepel steeple, tower, Old English stēpel tower. See steep1, -le

Other words from steeple

  • steepled, adjective
  • stee·ple·less, adjective
  • stee·ple·like, adjective
  • un·stee·pled, adjective

Words that may be confused with steeple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use steeple in a sentence

  • As we neared the provincial city we saw the steepled mass of the cathedral, long and high, rise far into the cloud-freckled blue.

  • The mud-wooden Caesters and Chesters had become steepled, tile-roofed, compact towns.

    Val d'Arno | John Ruskin
  • An old banner hung out from a quaint steepled building; but it was unlike any of modern times, national or provincial.

    ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands; | Hezekiah Butterworth
  • A Turkish mosque contrasted its splendid dome with the pillared Roman temple and the steepled Gothic church.

    Blood and Iron | John Hubert Greusel
  • The square-fronted stores, the steepled churches, the neat residences, rows of trees planted along either side of the streets.

    In to the Yukon | William Seymour Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for steeple

steeple

/ (ˈstiːpəl) /


noun
  1. a tall ornamental tower that forms the superstructure of a church, temple, etc

  2. such a tower with the spire above it

  1. any spire or pointed structure

Origin of steeple

1
Old English stēpel; see steep 1

Derived forms of steeple

  • steepled, adjective

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