Nearby Words
adjective
1.
very high or tall; lofty: a towering oak.
2.
surpassing others; very great: a towering figure in American poetry.
3.
rising to an extreme degree of violence or intensity: a towering rage.
4.
beyond the proper or usual limits; inordinate; excessive: towering pride; towering ambitions.
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Towering
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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.
5.
EXPANDa tall, movable structure used in ancient and medieval warfare in storming a fortified place.
6.
a tall, vertical case with accessible horizontal drive bays, designed to house a computer system standing on a desk or floor. Compare minitower.
7.
COLLAPSEAviation. control tower.
verb (used without object)
Idiom8.
to rise or extend far upward, as a tower; reach or stand high: The skyscraper towers above the city.
9.
to rise above or surpass others: She towers above the other students.
10.
Falconry. (of a hawk) to rise straight into the air; to ring up.
11.
tower of strength, a person who can be relied on for support, aid, or comfort, especially in times of difficulty.
Origin:
before 900; (noun) Middle English tour, earlier tur, tor < Old French < Latin turris < Greek týrris, variant of týrsis tower; Middle English tor perhaps in some cases continuing Old English torr < Latin turris, as above; (v.) late Middle English touren, derivative of the noun
before 900; (noun) Middle English tour, earlier tur, tor < Old French < Latin turris < Greek týrris, variant of týrsis tower; Middle English tor perhaps in some cases continuing Old English torr < Latin turris, as above; (v.) late Middle English touren, derivative of the noun
Related forms
tow·er·less, adjective
tow·er·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To towering
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
tower
O.E. torr, from L. turris "high structure" (cf. O.Fr. tor, 11c.; Sp., It. torre "tower"), possibly from a pre-I.E. Mediterranean language. Also borrowed separately 13c. as tour, from O.Fr. tur. The modern spelling first recorded in 1520s. Meaning "lofty pile or mass" is recorded from mid-14c. The verb
EXPANDis attested from c.1400.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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