Steep, a. [Comper. Steeper; superl. Steepest.]
Etymology: [OE. steep, step, AS. steáp; akin to Icel. steyp steep, and stupa to stoop, Sw. stupa to fall, to tilt; cf. OFries. stap high. Cf. Stoop, v. i., Steep, v. t., Steeple.]
1. Making a large angle with the plane of the horizon; ascending or descending rapidly with respect to a horizontal line or a level; precipitous; as, a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep declivity; a steep barometric gradient.
2. Difficult of access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high. [Obs.] Chapman.
3. Excessive; as, a steep price. [Slang]
5 other Webster entries under this spelling
Steep (step), a.
Bright; glittering; fiery. [Obs.] His eyen steep, and rolling in his head. Chaucer.
Steep, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Steeped (stept); p. pr. & vb. n. Steeping.]
To soak in a liquid; to macerate; to extract the essence of by soaking; as, to soften seed by steeping it in water. Often used figuratively. Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep. Shak. In refreshing dew to steep The little, trembling flowers. Wordsworth. The learned of the nation were steeped in Latin. Earle.
Steep, v. i.
To undergo the process of soaking in a liquid; as, the tea is steeping. [Colloq.]
Steep, n.
1. Something steeped, or used in steeping; a fertilizing liquid to hasten the germination of seeds.
2. A rennet bag. [Prov. Eng.]
Steep, n.
A precipitous place, hill, mountain, rock, or ascent; any elevated object sloping with a large angle to the plane of the horizon; a precipice. Dryden. We had on each side naked rocks and mountains broken into a thousand irregular steeps and precipices. Addison. Bare steeps, where desolation stalks. Wordsworth.
Shades of meaning
High is used of simple elevation; steep is said only of an incline where the vertical measurement is sufficiently great in proportion to the horizontal to make it difficult of ascent. Steep is relative; an ascent of 100 feet to the mile on a railway is a steep grade; a rise of 500 feet to the mile makes a steep wagon-road; a roof is steep when it makes with the horizontal line an angle of more than 45 deg.. A high mountain may be climbed by a winding road nowhere steep, while a little hill may be accessible only by a steep path. A sharp ascent or descent is one that makes a sudden, decided angle with the plane from which it starts; a sheer ascent or descent is perpendicular, or nearly so; precipitous applies to that which is of the nature of a precipice, and is used especially of a descent; abrupt is as if broken sharply off, and applies to either acclivity or declivity. Compare high.