Tower

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈtaÊŠ.É™(ɹ)/
• GenAm IPA: /ˈtaÊŠ.Éš/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠ.É™(ɹ), -aÊŠÉ™(ɹ)

Alternative forms

• towre obsolete

From Old English torr, from Latin turris. Probably influence by Welsh twr.

Full definition of tower

Noun

1. A structure, usually taller than it is wide, often used as a lookout, usually unsupported by guy-wires.From the top of the tower we could see far off into the distance.
2. (figuratively) Any item, such as a computer case, that is usually higher than it is wide.
3. (informal) An interlocking tower.
4. (figurative) A strong refuge; a defence.
• Bible, Psalms lxi. 3Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
5. (historical) A tall fashionable headdress.
• HudibrasLay trains of amorous intrigues
  In towers, and curls, and periwigs.
6. (obsolete) High flight; elevation.
7. The sixteenth trump or Major Arcana card in many Tarot decks, deemed an ill omen.

Synonyms

• donjon

Derived terms

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be very tall.
• 2013-08-03, Revenge of the nerds, 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.
2. The office block towered into the sky.
3. (intransitive) To be high or lofty; to soar.
• William ShakespeareMy lord protector's hawks do tower so well.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To soar into.

Derived terms

• tower over

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈtəʊ.É™(ɹ)/

tow + -er

Noun

1. One who tows.
• 1933, Henry Sturmey, ‎H. Walter Staner, The AutocarBut 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

• wrote