steeve
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
verb
noun
Etymology
Origin of steeve1
1475–85; probably < Spanish estibar to cram < Latin stīpāre to stuff, pack tightly; akin to Old English stīf stiff
Origin of steeve2
First recorded in 1635–45; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At length— "It seems to me a gey steeve case," he said.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various
"Weel, Jeemie," said his father, shaking hands with him limply, "yon was some steeve parritch ye gied us this mornin!—and the meal itsel was baith auld and soor!"
From Salted with Fire by MacDonald, George
An' gin there had been a third he wad hae been there too, for he's a grim auld carle, baith gash an' steeve, wi' his Bible an' his brass-muntit pistols an' his Effectual Callin'!
From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
And with that he waved his hand, cried to his men, and rode off like the steeve and dour persecutor that he was.
From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
I knows the steeve o’ that bowsprit too well to be mistook as to what that brig is.
From A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron by Hodgson, Edward S.
If it wisna' for that bowsprit bein' steeved up and th' rivets stertit in th' bows o' her, I widna' be here at a'....
From The Brassbounder A Tale of the Sea by Bone, David W.
"A brown patch in the big main-topsail, and the bowsprit steeved more'n ordinary," said Joe.
From Blackbeard: Buccaneer by Schoonover, Frank Earle
The martinganes flatten in their jibs along their high steeving bowsprits and jib-booms.
From The Children of the King by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
We continued at work in this manner until the lower hold was filled to within four feet of the beams, when all hands were called aboard to begin steeving.
From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry
How they called up to my mind the months of curing at San Diego, the year and more of beach and surf work, and the steeving of the ship for home!
From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry
For one moment I saw everything reel and aslant—Kato, the Schmerveloffians on the sofa, the cistern-post with its hats and coats and one hook empty, steeving up towards a tilted ceiling....
From The Debit Account by Onions, Oliver [pseud.]
We continued at work in this manner until the lower hold was filled to within four feet of the beams, when all hands were called aboard to commence steeving.
From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
