silo

silo (ˈsaɪləʊ)

—n , pl -los
1.	a pit, trench, horizontal container, or tower, often cylindrical in shape, in which silage is made and stored
2.	a strengthened underground position in which missile systems are sited for protection against attack

[C19: from Spanish, perhaps from Celtic]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

silo

1835, from Sp. silo, from L. sirum (nom. sirus), from Gk. siros "a pit to keep corn in." Or, alternately, the Sp. word is from a pre-Roman Iberian language word represented by Basque zilo, zulo "dugout, cave or shelter for keeping grain." Meaning "underground housing and launch tube for a guided missile"

is attested from 1958.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

silo

n. The FIFO input-character buffer in an RS-232 line card. So called from DEC terminology used on DH and DZ line cards for the VAX and PDP-11, presumably because it was a storage space for fungible stuff that went in at the top and came out at the bottom.

Jargon
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FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

silo definition

The FIFO input-character buffer in an EIA-232 serial line card. So called from DEC terminology used on DH and DZ line cards for the VAX and PDP-11, presumably because it was a storage space for fungible stuff that went in at the top and came out at the bottom.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

silo

in agriculture, airtight structure that encloses and protects silage (q.v.; partially fermented fodder, called haylage if made from grass), keeping it in the succulent and slightly sour condition edible for farm animals.

Learn more about silo with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences

The intestines and other organs can be gently squeezed into the belly with the

help of a plastic pouch called a silo.

And you definitely can't use them to see inside a nuclear bunker or silo.

Their loyalty to their silo frequently blinded them to the wider interests of

the company as a whole.

So this silo is not working with this silo, and now you have almost warring

factions within companies.