STEEPLE

steeple. Steeple, n. the turret or spire of a church

---

Stee″ple (stē″p'l), n. [[OE. stepel, AS. stēpel, stȳpel; akin to E. steep, a.]] (Arch.) 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. Jer. Taylor.