from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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 ({Spiraea 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]