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Tower
Definitions
- 1 The Tower of London, especially seen as a place of imprisonment or punishment. UK, countable, uncountable
"Traitors should be sent to the Tower!"
- 2 A habitational surname.; Alternative form of Towers. countable
- 3 A city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. countable, uncountable
- 1 A very tall iron-framed structure, usually painted red and white, on which microwave, radio, satellite, or other communication antennas are installed; mast.
- 2 One who tows.
"But as the tower and towee reached the cross-roads again, another car, negligently driven, came round the corner, hit the Morris, and severed the tow rope, sending the unfortunate car back again into the shop window[…]"
- 3 Denoting the system of weights used by the Saxon and Norman English kings in their minting of coins. attributive
- 4 a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building wordnet
- 5 A similarly framed structure with a platform or enclosed area on top, used as a lookout for spotting fires, plane crashes, fugitives, etc.
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- 6 a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships wordnet
- 7 A water tower.
- 8 anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower wordnet
- 9 A control tower.
- 10 Any very tall building or structure; skyscraper.
"The Sears Tower"
- 11 An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide. figuratively
- 12 Ellipsis of interlocking tower. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal
- 13 A strong refuge; a defence. figuratively
"Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy."
- 14 A tall fashionable headdress worn in the time of King William III and Queen Anne. historical
"Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers, and curls, and periwigs."
- 15 High flight; elevation. obsolete
"Nigh in her sight The Bird of Jove, stoopt from his aerie tour, Two Birds of gayest plume before him drove."
- 16 The sixteenth trump or Major Arcana card in many Tarot decks, usually deemed an ill omen.
- 17 The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness.
- 18 A group of giraffes. collective
"A group of giraffes is called a tower."
- 19 Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers.
"Suppliers compete separately for the towers and service integrator and management contract, which assists the government in the integration and operation of its services."
- 20 A metal stand used as a pivot to support a punty at a furnace.
- 1 To be very tall. intransitive
"The office block towered into the sky."
- 2 appear very large or occupy a commanding position wordnet
- 3 To be high or lofty; to soar. intransitive
"My lord protector's hawks do tower so well."
- 4 To soar into. obsolete, transitive
"Her state with oary feet; yet oft they quit The dank, and, rising on stiff pennons, tower The mid aerial sky"
Etymology
From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.
From Middle English touren, torren, torrien, from Old English *torrian, from the noun (see above).
From tow + -er.
See also for "tower"
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