Definition of "steeve" [steeve]

• A spar or derrick with a block at one end, used for stowing cargo. (noun)
• To stow or pack (cargo) in the hold of a ship. (verb-transitive)
• The angle formed by the bowsprit and the horizon or the keel. (noun)
• To incline (a bowsprit) upward at an angle with the horizon or the keel. (verb-transitive)
• To have an upward inclination. Used of a bowsprit. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "MacCailein Mor looked a bit annoyed, and led us at a fast pace up to the gate of the castle that stood, high towered and embrasured for heavy pieces, stark and steeve above town Inneraora."
• "This they did all day long for several days, until their hides were all discharged, when a gang of them were sent on board the Alert, to help us steeve our hides."
• "Each morning we went ashore, and beat and brought off as many hides as we could steeve in the course of the day, and, after breakfast, went down into the hold, where we remained at work until night."