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View synonyms for tower

tower

1

[ tou-er ]

noun

  1. a building or structure high in proportion to its lateral dimensions, either isolated or forming part of a building.
  2. such a structure used as or intended for a stronghold, fortress, prison, etc.
  3. any of various fully enclosed fireproof housings for vertical communications, as staircases, between the stories of a building.
  4. any structure, contrivance, or object that resembles or suggests a tower.
  5. a tall, movable structure used in ancient and medieval warfare in storming a fortified place.
  6. Computers. a tall, vertical case with accessible horizontal drive bays, designed to house a computer system standing on a desk or floor. Compare minitower.
  7. Aviation. control tower.


verb (used without object)

  1. to rise or extend far upward, as a tower; reach or stand high:

    The skyscraper towers above the city.

  2. to rise above or surpass others:

    She towers above the other students.

  3. Falconry. (of a hawk) to rise straight into the air; to ring up.

tower

2

[ toh-er ]

noun

  1. a person or thing that tows.

tower

/ ˈtaʊə /

noun

  1. a tall, usually square or circular structure, sometimes part of a larger building and usually built for a specific purpose

    a control tower

    a church tower

  2. a place of defence or retreat
  3. a mobile structure used in medieval warfare to attack a castle, etc
  4. tower of strength
    tower of strength a person who gives support, comfort, etc


verb

  1. intr to be or rise like a tower; loom

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Other Words From

  • tower·less adjective
  • tower·like adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tower1

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun tour, earlier tur, tor, from Old French tur, tor, from Latin turris, from Greek týrris, variant of týrsis “tower”; Middle English tor perhaps continuing Old English torr, from Latin turris, as above

Origin of tower2

First recorded in 1485–95; tow 1 + -er 1

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tower1

C12: from Old French tur, from Latin turris, from Greek

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. tower of strength, a person who can be relied on for support, aid, or comfort, especially in times of difficulty.

More idioms and phrases containing tower

In addition to the idiom beginning with tower , also see ivory tower

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Example Sentences

They also think about equivalences between equivalences, and equivalences between equivalences between equivalences, and so on upward in a never-ending tower of relationships.

He made headlines with plans for a “world wireless system,” and won funding from JP Morgan to build the first of several huge transmission towers.

Telecom operators are rolling it out in what we call macro sites outdoors, the big cell towers, and that’s to get coverage of the population.

From Fortune

The final design would be a hybrid, with the concrete base supporting a steel tower and turbine.

These features included the machicoulis, a dropbox-like overhanging structure from where defenders could shoot at the besiegers, and the talus battered-face of the walls that created hard gradients for the approaching siege towers and ladders.

The bell tower bellows loudly when a little muscle power is put into it.

Her brother perished in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in the 9/11 attacks.

Movie buffs have commented endlessly on the bell-tower sequence in Vertigo.

It involved a model of the tower set on its side for the shot.

In Vertigo there's a strange cut in the first bell-tower sequence.

The tower has four clock faces, pinnacles at the angles, and a steep slate roof and is 120 feet high.

At the Flagstaff Tower the 74th and the remainder of the 38th suddenly told their officers that they would obey them no longer.

The height of the tower from the level of the street is 105 feet, the slated towers over the lateral pediments being smaller.

John Wilkes released from the tower by the memorable sentence of chief justice Pratt.

In a dungeon of the corresponding tower, on this side of the castle, was the prison of Ripperda.

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tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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towel railtower block