spyre

Noun

spire (plural spires)

1. (archaic) The stalk or stem of a plant.
2. A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
   • Clara had pulled a button from a hollyhock spire, and was breaking it to get the seeds.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 12”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC
3. Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
4. A sharp or tapering point.
   • A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
5. A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
   • The spire of the church rose high above the town.

   Synonyms:

   steeple

6. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
   • the spire and top of praisesc. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

See all 14 meanings of spire