TOWER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tower mean? 

• TOWER (noun)
  The noun TOWER has 3 senses:

1. a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building

2. anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower

3. a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships

  Familiarity information: TOWER used as a noun is uncommon.

• TOWER (verb)
  The verb TOWER has 1 sense:

1. appear very large or occupy a commanding position

  Familiarity information: TOWER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TOWER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tower" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tower"):

beacon; beacon light; lighthouse; pharos (a tower with a light that gives warning of shoals to passing ships)

watchtower (an observation tower for a lookout to watch over prisoners or watch for fires or enemies)

turret (a small tower extending above a building)

supporting tower (a tower that serves to support something)

spire; steeple (a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top)

silo (a cylindrical tower used for storing silage)

shot tower (tower of a kind once used to make shot; molten lead was poured through a sieve and dropped into water)

pylon (a tower for guiding pilots or marking the turning point in a race)

power pylon; pylon (a large vertical steel tower supporting high-tension power lines)

mooring mast; mooring tower (a tower for mooring airships)

minaret (slender tower with balconies)

high-rise; tower block (tower consisting of a multistoried building of offices or apartments)

control tower (a tower with an elevated workspace enclosed in glass for the visual observation of aircraft around an airport)

clock tower (a tower with a large clock visible high up on an outside face)

church tower (the tower of a church)

bell tower (a tower that supports or shelters a bell)

barbacan; barbican (a tower that is part of a defensive structure (such as a castle))

Instance hyponyms:

Eiffel Tower (a wrought iron tower 300 meters high that was constructed in Paris in 1889; for many years it was the tallest man-made structure)

CN Tower (a tower in Toronto; 1815 feet tall for broadcasting widely)

Space Needle (a tower 605 feet tall in Seattle; a tourist attraction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

column; pillar; tower

Context example:

a thin pillar of smoke betrayed their campsite

Hypernyms ("tower" is a kind of...):

form; shape (the spatial arrangement of something as distinct from its substance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tower"):

columella (a small column (or structure resembling a column) that is a part of a plant or animal)

hoodoo ((geology) a column of weathered and unusually shaped rock)

Derivation:

tower (appear very large or occupy a commanding position)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

towboat; tower; tug; tugboat

Hypernyms ("tower" is a kind of...):

boat (a small vessel for travel on water)

Meronyms (parts of "tower"):

helm (steering mechanism for a vessel; a mechanical device by which a vessel is steered)

Derivation:

tow (drag behind)

• TOWER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tower    ... he / she / it towers   
Past simple: towered   
Past participle: towered   
-ing form: towering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Appear very large or occupy a commanding position

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

hulk; loom; predominate; tower

Context example:

Large shadows loomed on the canyon wall

Hypernyms (to "tower" is one way to...):

lift; rear; rise (rise up)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

tower (anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower)

 Context examples 

While they also occur under normal conditions, the towers appear to form in greater numbers during global storms.

(Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky, NASA)

How black is the great tower, and how bright the gleam of arms upon the wall!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were brutes, but he was the arch-brute, a thing of terror that towered over them and dominated them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He climbed up the tower before you did.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

There lies Cuckfield Place, where the towers are, yonder.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Because of these characteristics, scientists didn't expect mountains on Titan would tower quite as high as those on Earth.

(Cassini Spies Titan's Tallest Peaks, NASA)

But now really—are there towers and long galleries?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

After the sediment hardened, wind carved the layered rock into the towering Mount Sharp, which Curiosity is climbing today.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)

With its towering ice formations and large underground ice deposit, Scărișoara Ice Cave is among the most important scientific sites in Europe.

(Ice cave in Transylvania yields window into region's past, NSF)

I was very desirous to see the chief temple, and particularly the tower belonging to it, which is reckoned the highest in the kingdom.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)