Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Tower

Tow′er

,
Noun.
[OE.
tour
,
tor
,
tur
, F.
tour
, L.
turris
; akin to Gr. [GREEK]; cf. W.
twr
a tower, Ir.
tor
a castle, Gael.
torr
a tower, castle. Cf.
Tor
,
Turret
.]
1.
(Arch.)
(a)
A mass of building standing alone and insulated, usually higher than its diameter, but when of great size not always of that proportion.
(b)
A projection from a line of wall, as a fortification, for purposes of defense, as a flanker, either or the same height as the curtain wall or higher.
(c)
A structure appended to a larger edifice for a special purpose, as for a belfry, and then usually high in proportion to its width and to the height of the rest of the edifice;
as, a church
tower
.
2.
A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defense.
Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong
tower
from the enemy.
Ps. lxi. 3.
3.
A headdress of a high or towerlike form, fashionable about the end of the seventeenth century and until 1715; also, any high headdress.
Lay trains of amorous intrigues
In
towers
, and curls, and periwigs.
Hudibras.
4.
High flight; elevation.
[Obs.]
Johnson.
Gay Lussac’s tower
(Chem.)
,
a large tower or chamber used in the sulphuric acid process, to absorb (by means of concentrated acid) the spent nitrous fumes that they may be returned to the Glover's tower to be reemployed. See
Sulphuric acid
, under
Sulphuric
, and
Glover's tower
, below.
–
Glover's tower
(Chem.)
,
a large tower or chamber used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, to condense the crude acid and to deliver concentrated acid charged with nitrous fumes. These fumes, as a catalytic, effect the conversion of sulphurous to sulphuric acid. See
Sulphuric acid
, under
Sulphuric
, and
Gay Lussac's tower
, above.
–
Round tower
.
See under
Round
,
Adj.
–
Shot tower
.
See under
Shot
.
–
Tower bastion
(Fort.)
,
a bastion of masonry, often with chambers beneath, built at an angle of the interior polygon of some works.
–
Tower mustard
(Bot.)
,
the cruciferous plant
Arabis perfoliata
.
–
Tower of London
,
a collection of buildings in the eastern part of London, formerly containing a state prison, and now used as an arsenal and repository of various objects of public interest.

Tow′er

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
towered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
towering
.]
To rise and overtop other objects; to be lofty or very high; hence, to soar.
On the other side an high rock
towered
still.
Spenser.
My lord protector's hawks do
tower
so well.
Shakespeare

Tow′er

,
Verb.
T.
To soar into.
[Obs.]
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Tower

TOW'ER

,
Noun.
[L. turris.]
1.
A building, either round or square, raised to a considerable elevation and consisting of several stories. When towers are erected with other buildings, as they usually are, they rise above the main edifice. They are generally flat on the top, and thus differ from steeples or spires. Before the invention of guns, places were fortified with towers and attacked with movable towers mounted on wheels, which placed the besiegers on a level with the walls.
2.
A citadel; a fortress. Ps.61.
3.
A high head dress.
4.
High flight; elevation.
Tower bastion, in fortification, a small tower in the form of a bastion, with rooms or cells underneath for men and guns.
Tower of London, a citadel containing an arsenal. It is also a palace where the kings of England have sometimes lodged.

TOW'ER

,
Verb.
I.
To rise and fly high; to soar; to be lofty.
Sublime thoughts, which tower above the clouds.

Definition 2024

Tower

Tower

See also: tower

English

Adjective

Tower ‎(not comparable)

  1. Of or concerning the system of weights used by the Saxon and Norman English kings in their minting of coins.

Derived terms

  • Tower ounce
  • Tower pound

German

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -aʊ̯ɐ

Noun

Tower m

  1. control tower (for air traffic)

Synonyms

  • Kontrollturm m

Proper noun

Tower

  1. Tower of London

tower

tower

See also: Tower

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

tower ‎(plural towers)

A nineteenth century water tower
  1. A very tall iron-framed structure, usually painted red and white, on which microwave, satellite, or other communication antennas are installed; radio tower.
  2. A similarly framed structure with a platform or enclosed area on top, used as a lookout for spotting fires, plane crashes, fugitives, etc.
  3. A water tower.
  4. A control tower.
  5. Any very tall building or structure; skyscraper.
    The Sears Tower
  6. (figuratively) Any item, such as a computer case, that is usually higher than it is wide.
  7. (informal) An interlocking tower.
  8. (figuratively) A strong refuge; a defence.
    • Bible, Psalms lxi. 3
      Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
  9. (historical) A tall fashionable headdress.
    • Hudibras
      Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers, and curls, and periwigs.
  10. (obsolete) High flight; elevation.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)
  11. The sixteenth trump or Major Arcana card in many Tarot decks, deemed an ill omen.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

See also

Verb

tower ‎(third-person singular simple present towers, present participle towering, simple past and past participle towered)

  1. (intransitive) To be very tall.
    • 2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
      Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.
    The office block towered into the sky.‎
  2. (intransitive) To be high or lofty; to soar.
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To soar into.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

tow +‎ -er

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtəʊ.ə(ɹ)/

Noun

tower ‎(plural towers)

  1. One who tows.
    • 1933, Henry Sturmey, ‎H. Walter Staner, The Autocar
      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 […]

Anagrams

Etymology

From its later association with the English mint at the Tower of London.

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