[Altered form of STAPLE sb.1, perh. influenced by prec.]
1. = STAPLE sb.1 2.
1722. W. Hamilton, Wallace, 57. Wallace … with a furious shock The Bar and Steeple all in Flinders Broke, Then open drave the Gate.
1825. Jamieson, Dict., Steepil, the staple or bolt of a hinge. Ettr. For.
1867. J. K. Hunter, Retrosp. Artist’s Life, viii. (1902), 76. A steeple at the corner.
1894. Crockett, Lilac Sunbonnet, 34. A sharp noise as of one clicking in the ‘steeple’ or brace of the front door.
2. Shetland. [Cf. Du stapel heap.] = PACK sb.1 9.
1822. Hibbert, Desc. Shetl. Isl., 519. They [fish] are afterwards built into a large stack named a steeple.
18[?]. [see PACK sb.1 9].
