- Spiraea tomentosa
- Steeple Stee"ple (st[=e]"p'l), n. [OE. stepel, AS. st[=e]pel,
st[=y]pel; 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.
[1913 Webster]
{Rood steeple}. See {Rood tower}, under {Rood}.
{Steeple bush} (Bot.), a low shrub ({Spir[ae]a 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
