STEEPLE

steeple, spire

(noun) a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

steeple (plural steeples)

A tall tower, often on a church, normally topped with a spire.

A spire.

(historical) A high headdress of the 14th century.

Verb

steeple (third-person singular simple present steeples, present participle steepling, simple past and past participle steepled)

(transitive) To form something into the shape of a steeple.

Anagrams

• Teeples, peelest

Source: Wiktionary

Stee"ple, n. Etym: [OE. stepel, AS. stepel, st; akin to E. steep, a.] (Arch.)

Definition: A spire; also, the tower and spire taken together; the whole of a structure if the roof is of spire form. See Spire. "A weathercock on a steeple." Shak. Rood steeple. See Rood tower, under Rood.

– Steeple bush (Bot.), a low shrub (Spiræa tomentosa) having dense panicles of minute rose-colored flowers; hardhack.

– Steeple chase, a race across country between a number of horsemen, to see which can first reach some distant object, as a church steeple; hence, a race over a prescribed course obstructed by such obstacles as one meets in riding across country, as hedges, walls, etc.

– Steeple chaser, one who rides in a steeple chase; also, a horse trained to run in a steeple chase.

– Steeple engine, a vertical back-acting steam engine having the cylinder beneath the crosshead.

– Steeple house, a church. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition