tower

TOW-ur/ˈtaʊɚ/UKTOW-uh/ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/

19 meanings of tower

1
nouncountable
A very tall building or structure, like a skyscraper.
Like a giant stack of blocks reaching up into the sky.
The new office tower dominates the city skyline.
From the top of the tower, you can see the whole city.
Similarskyscraper, high-rise
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2
nouncountable
A tall metal structure that holds antennas for radio, TV, or phone signals.
Like a tall metal pole that catches signals out of the air.
Workers climbed the tower to fix the antenna.
A new cell tower went up on the hill last month.
Similarmast
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3
verbintransitive
To rise very high above the things nearby.
Like a grown-up standing next to a small child.
The old oak trees tower over the little cottage.
He towers above everyone else on the team.
Similarloom, rise, soar
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4
nounfigurativelycountable
An object that stands taller than it is wide, like a computer case.
Like a tall box standing on its end instead of lying flat.
He slid the computer tower under his desk.
The new gaming tower has space for extra fans.
5
nouncountable
The tall building at an airport where workers guide planes safely.
Like a referee who tells everyone when it is safe to go.
The pilot asked the tower if it was safe to land.
Workers in the tower watch all the planes coming and going.
6
nouncountable
A tall tank that holds water high up so it flows with good pressure.
Like a big water bottle held up high so water rushes down fast.
The old tower on the hill stored water for the whole town.
Water pressure dropped when the tower needed repairs.
7
nouncountable
A tall structure with a lookout on top, used to watch for fires or other danger.
Like a lifeguard's high chair, but for watching a whole forest.
The ranger sat in the tower watching for forest fires.
From the tall tower, guards could see anyone crossing the field.
Similarlookout
8
verbintransitive
To reach or rise far up into the sky.
Like a kite climbing higher and higher until it looks tiny.
The great peaks tower far into the sky.
Hawks tower above the open fields searching for prey.
Similarsoar, rise
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9
nouncountable
A Tarot card, the sixteenth in the deck, often seen as a sign of bad luck.
Like drawing the worst card in a game just when you felt safe.
She drew the Tower and worried about bad news.
When the Tower appears, many readers expect sudden change.
10
nounfigurativelycountable
A safe place that protects you from harm.
Like a strong wall that keeps danger out and you safe inside.
To the frightened villagers, the old chief was a tower they could always trust.
In hard times, her faith became a tower that kept her strong.
Similarrock, pillar, bulwark, bastion, stronghold
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11
USTOH-ur/ˈtoʊ.ɚ/UKTOH-uh/ˈtəʊ.ə(ɹ)/
nouncountable
A person or thing that pulls something else along behind it.
Like a strong truck that pulls a broken-down car.
He works as a tower, pulling broken cars off the highway.
Every tower at the marina knows how to handle a heavy rope.
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12
nouncollectivecountable
A group of giraffes gathered together.
Like how a group of wolves is called a pack.
A tower of giraffes moved slowly across the dry plain.
We spotted a tower of giraffes near the waterhole at dawn.
Similarherd
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13
nouncountable
A separate part of a company's IT work that one provider looks after on its own.
Like splitting house chores so each person handles a different job.
The company handed its email tower to an outside provider.
Each tower in the contract is managed by a different team.
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14
nouncolloquialUSabbreviationellipsis
Short form of interlocking tower. People use this shorter word when talking about railway signals.
The signalman climbed to the tower to change the switches.
Trains at the junction wait for a signal from the tower.
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15
nouncountable
A Lenormand fortune-telling card that stands for structure, rules, and loneliness.
The reader turned over the tower and talked about feeling alone.
In the spread, the tower pointed to strict rules and paperwork.
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16
nounhistoricalcountable
A tall, fancy headdress that fashionable women wore about three hundred years ago.
She wore a tall tower of lace to the royal ball.
Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers, and curls, and periwigs.
1662, [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”Here, towers means tall, stylish headdresses worn by women.
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17
nouncountable
A metal stand at a furnace that holds and turns a glassmaker's rod.
The glassblower rested the hot rod on the tower beside the furnace.
She leaned the iron against the tower to keep it steady.
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18
verbobsoletetransitive
To rise and fly high up into the open sky.
Like a kite climbing high into the sky.
Watch the falcons tower the bright sky each morning.
Her state with oary feet; yet oft they quit The dank, and, rising on stiff pennons, tower The mid aerial sky
1667, John Milton, Paradise LostHere, tower means to fly high up.
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19
nounobsolete
The act of flying high, or great height up in the air.
Nigh in her sight The Bird of Jove, stoopt from his aerie tour, Two Birds of gayest plume before him drove.
1667, John Milton, Paradise LostHere, tour means a high place reached while flying.
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Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–2, 4–7, 9–10, 12–17, 19

It comes from old English and old French words for a tower, which both came from Latin turris and from Ancient Greek.

Meanings 3, 8, 18

This verb comes from an Old English verb formed from the noun "tower."

Meaning 11

This word was formed from "tow" plus the ending "-er."