Word.ws English Dictionary

steeping

steeping is the present participle and gerund of steep.

Meaning of steep

Verb

steep (third-person singular simple present steeps, present participle steeping, simple past and past participle steeped)

  1. (transitive, middle voice) To soak or wet thoroughly.
    • They steep skins in a tanning solution to create leather.
    1. (transitive, middle voice) To make tea (or other beverages) by soaking leaves in water, which flavors the water.
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To imbue with something; to be deeply immersed in.
    • a town steeped in history

See all 10 meanings of steep

Noun (1)

steeping (countable and uncountable, plural steepings)

  1. An instance of something being steeped; a wetting.
    • It is usual to expect, that the first two or three wettings or steepings of grain, at the commencement of the malting season, will not make so good malt as succeeding steepings […]1838, George Adolphus Wigney, An Elementary Dictionary, Or, Cyclopaediae, for the Use of Maltsters, Brewers &c., page 28

Noun (2)

steeping (plural steepings)

  1. (historical) A 13th-century coin circulated in Ireland as a debased sterling silver penny, outlawed under King Edward I.
    Synonyms:
    Bishop's money, scalding, stalding

Proper noun capitalized: Steeping

Steeping

  1. A river or drainage channel, usually called the Steeping River, in East Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England; a continuation of the River Lymn.

Synonyms of steeping

Forms of steeping

pluralsteepings
alternative formstephening
alternative formsteping

Origin of steeping

From the name of Stephen de Fulbourn, who served as bishop of Waterford, archbishop of Tuam, and treasurer and justiciar of Ireland in the 1270s and 1280s.

Questions about steeping

What does steeping mean?
Steeping means an instance of something being steeped; a wetting.
What is steeping the present participle and gerund of?
Steeping is the present participle and gerund of steep.
What part of speech is steeping?
Steeping can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of steeping?
The plural of steeping is steepings.

Words near steeping in the dictionary

  1. steepeth
  2. steepie
  3. steepier
  4. steepiest
  5. steepiness
  6. steeping
  7. steepings
  8. steepish
  9. steeple
  10. Steeple Aston
  11. Steeple Barton

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: steeping (page history and authors); Steeping (page history and authors); steep (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “steeping.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/steeping. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.