towering

1. 1
   adjective

   Very tall or high, rising so far above everything nearby that it dwarfs its surroundings.

   A towering oak marked the edge of the old estate.

   Seen from the deck, the waves grew towering as the storm closed in.

   Similarsoaring, lofty, tall, giant, high

   Oppositelow, small, tiny

   Note

   Hills and spires are the expected subjects, but the word stretches easily to people and even to actions. Look magazine in 1964 describes "a towering girl." Marc Vesty's BBC report "Stoke 0-2 Fulham" (2010) singles out Ryan Shawcross's "towering header," a ball met high above the other players. In each case the idea of dwarfing whatever is nearby carries over intact.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of tower.

   The cathedral spire was towering over the medieval town center.

   Storm clouds were towering above the plains by late afternoon.

   Note

   Because the verb is intransitive, the participle takes no object. Things tower over or above something, as spires and storm clouds do. The same spelling also serves as the adjective for great height. To tell them apart, look at position and degree. The adjective stands before a noun and accepts more towering and most towering. The participle follows be and reaches for a preposition.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The action of rising, or the state of standing, far above others nearby.

   Gaiety seldom fails to give some pain; the hearers either strain their faculties to accompany its towerings, or are left behind in envy or despair.

   1829, John Timbs, Laconics

   But I am an old hawk at the sport; and wrote her such a cool, deliberate, prudent reply, as brought my bird from the aerial towerings, pop down at my foot like Corporal Trim's hat.

   1787, Robert Burns, letter to a friend

   Note

   A noun that comes most alive in the plural, where towerings are separate flights upward. Robert Burns, writing in 1787, calls himself "an old hawk at the sport" and brings his bird down "from the aerial towerings." John Timbs's Laconics (1829) gives gaiety towerings that its hearers strain to follow. Both apply the soaring image to wit and spirit rather than to buildings.

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