Skip to content
ARCHIEENGLISH
LearnPlayWordsRanking
  • Learn
  • Play
  • Words
  • Ranking
  • Mine
← Vocabulary

steeplechase

UK/ˈstiːpəltʃeɪs/US/ˈstiːpəltʃeɪs/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,582 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: steeplechases

A steeplechase is a race run over ditches and fences. Win the steeplechase, the three thousand metre steeplechase, a steeplechase course.

The name is literal: eighteenth-century Irish riders raced across country from one church steeple to another, since a steeple was the only landmark visible for miles. The athletics version has a water jump and twenty-eight barriers.

Augustas Didžgalvis · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of steeplechase

  1. 1nounsteeplechaseA race run over ditches and fences.C1

    “The favourite fell at the last fence of the steeplechase.”

steeplechase is a race.

Where it comes from

Steeple plus chase, from Irish races run cross-country from one church steeple to another.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *keh₂p-

  2. English, today

    steeplechase

steeple + chase, from horse races in 18th century Ireland in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Horses & Riding

Practise this word

steeplechase in the wild

  • Hurdling involves horses jumping over hurdles, while steeplechase involves the horses jumping over a variety of different obstacles that include fences, water jumps or an open ditch.

    National Hunt racing

  • The men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 21 to 24.

    Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

  • A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles.

    Steeplechase (horse racing)

  • Modern usage of the term "steeplechase" differs between countries.

    Steeplechase (horse racing)

  • A steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing.

    Steeplechase (athletics)

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.