steep
part of speech
adjective (steep, steeper, steepest); verb (steep, steeps, steeped, steeping)
meaning for a pupil
1) Rising or falling sharply, like a slope that is hard to climb. tree →
2) A price that is much too high: "That's a bit steep!" tree →
3) A big change: "a steep rise in prices". tree →
4) As a verb, to soak something in liquid, like tea leaves in hot water. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and geography, steep hills and slopes make things roll faster and are harder to climb; ramps can be steep or gentle. In maths graphs, a steep line shows something changing quickly. In safety, steep paths, cliffs and stairs need care and holding on. Phrases: steep hill, steep slope, steep stairs, steep climb, steep price.
examples
- The hill was too steep to ride up. tree →
- Walk carefully down the steep path. tree →
- A steeper ramp makes the ball roll faster. tree →
- On the graph, the line gets steep when the temperature rises fast. tree →
- Ten dollars for a drink is a bit steep! tree →
- Steep the tea for three minutes. tree →
- Then they knocked at the door, which opened straight on to a steep staircase. tree →
note
Comparatives: steeper, steepest. The opposite is "gentle" or "shallow". In maths, a steeper line on a graph means a bigger change for each step along. Safety: stay away from steep edges and cliffs, and hold handrails on steep stairs.
In the corpora
- In a steep dive a peregrine falcon can go over 300 kilometres an hour, the fastest of any animal.
- You walk a scooter down a steep hill, because you can lose control.
- Contour lines join points of equal height above sea level, and lines drawn close together mean the ground is steep.
- High up, the river is fast and steep and cuts down into the land, making a deep V-shaped valley.
- Near the source, a river cuts down into the land, making steep V-shaped valleys.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «steep» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.