steeple

[ stee-puhl ]

/ ˈsti pəl /

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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.

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Origin of steeple

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

OTHER WORDS FROM steeple

steepled, adjectivestee·ple·less, adjectivestee·ple·like, adjectiveun·stee·pled, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH steeple

spire, steeple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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 Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. X (of X) - America - II, Index|Various
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

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 forms of steeple

steepled, 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

steeple

Origin of steeple

OTHER WORDS FROM steeple

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH steeple

Words related to steeple

How to use steeple in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for steeple

Derived forms of steeple

Word Origin for steeple