steep

Meaning

1. Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.
2. (informal) expensive
3. (obsolete) Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.
4. resulting in a mast or windshield angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular

precipitous

soak

put in water

steep slope

soak through

very angry

good things of life

territory of a chief

soak in

steep hill

soil dug out to form a grave

cliffy

insuccation

immerse in

sharply-sloping

arupt

downward-sloping

profuse in

material possessions

impregnation pickling

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stiːp/

From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, stick”). Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap (“to strike, to forcibly insert”). The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested US 1856.

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