steeper

English

Etymology

From steep +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

steeper

  1. comparative form of steep: more steep

Noun

steeper (plural steepers)

  1. A vessel, vat, or cistern in which things are steeped.[1]
    • 1879, H. Wilson, patent 4035, in Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications: […] , page 38:
      The piping A', B', C' is arranged so that the contents of each cistern can be passed through any one of the steepers. The steepers have perforated false bottoms, shown in plan in Fig. 2, […]
  2. The stem of a shrub or small tree in a hedgerow, often laid by being partially cut through at the base in the process of laying a hedge.
  3. (chiefly England and Scotland) A downpour; a soaking rain.
    • 1878, Edwin Waugh, The Hermit Cobbler, page 46:
      "Thou may weel say a time like this," replied Ab, switchign the rain from his hat, "for it's a steeper, and nought else. It's I've bin th' weetest back - end we'n had this ten year! down to th' market, an' just as I coom by th' Cross, owd Job Sutcliffe, th' barber, axed me to co' wi' a pair o' razzors he's […] "
    • 1898 May 7, Leeds Merc. Suppl., quoted in the EDD:
      It's a steeper, nah, is this, an' reight an' all.

References

  1. ^ “steeper”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

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