¹steep

steep, abrupt, precipitous, sheer mean having an incline approaching the perpendicular. steep implies such sharpness of pitch that ascent or descent is very difficult <a steep hill> <a steep dive>. abrupt implies a sharper pitch and a sudden break in the level <a beach with an abrupt drop-off>. precipitous applies to an incline approaching the vertical <the river winds through a precipitous gorge>. sheer suggests an unbroken perpendicular expanse <sheer cliffs that daunted the climbers>.

soak, saturate, drench, steep, impregnate mean to permeate or be permeated with a liquid. soak implies usually prolonged immersion as for softening or cleansing <soak the garment in soapy water>. saturate implies a resulting effect of complete absorption until no more liquid can be held <a saturated sponge>. drench implies a thorough wetting by something that pours down or is poured <clothes drenched by a cloudburst>. steep suggests either the extraction of an essence (as of tea leaves) by the liquid or the imparting of a quality (as a color) to the thing immersed <steep the tea for five minutes>. impregnate implies a thorough interpenetration of one thing by another <a cake strongly impregnated with brandy>.