Word: tower Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Displaced native Middle English stepel for the general sense of "tower". Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret. Pronunciation: /ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/, [ˈtɑːə], [ˈtɑː], /ˈtuː.ɐ/, /ˈtaʊɚ/ 1. A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure. Example: an observation tower, an isolated watch tower, a church tower, conning tower Example: The valley is closed in at the lower end by the village, the church tower and a few roofs being visible through the trees; […] 2. A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure. Example: signal tower, radio tower, cell tower 3. A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure. Example: observation tower, watch tower 4. A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure. 5. A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure. Example: The Sears Tower Example: He'd taken her to see […] The Towering Inferno […] She imagined the screen itself must be hot as the burning San Francisco tower. […] She expected the screen to go up in a sheath of flame as the Glass Tower had, expected sparks to leap from the aluminum into the surrounding hayfields, […] 6. An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide. Labels: figuratively 7. A strong refuge; a defence. Labels: figuratively Example: Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. Example: A group of giraffes is called a tower. 8. Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers. Example: Suppliers compete separately for the towers and service integrator and management contract, which assists the government in the integration and operation of its services. Example: Service towers are significant IT functional areas, such as infrastructure, applications, security, etc., each possibly managed by a different service provider. The service integrator role is crucial for coordinating and integrating these service towers. 9. The sixteenth named (trump or Major Arcana) card in many Tarot decks, usually deemed an ill omen. 10. The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness. 11. A group of giraffes. Labels: collective 12. A metal stand used as a pivot to support a punty at a furnace. 13. A tall fashionable headdress worn in the time of King William III and Queen Anne. Labels: historical Example: Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers, and curls, and periwigs. 14. High flight; elevation. Labels: obsolete Example: Nigh in her sight The Bird of Jove, stoopt from his aerie tour, Two Birds of gayest plume before him drove.