tower

Noun (1)

tower (plural towers)

1. A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
   • an observation tower, an isolated watch tower, a church tower, conning tower
   • The valley is closed in at the lower end by the village, the church tower and a few roofs being visible through the trees; […]1878, Harold Lewis, The Church Rambler: A Series of Articles on the Churches..., page 440
   1. A very tall open-framed structure on which communications devices are installed.
      • signal tower, radio tower, cell tower
   2. A similarly framed structure with a platform or enclosed area on top.
      • observation tower, watch tower
   3. A control tower.
   4. A skyscraper.
      • The Sears Tower
      • 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, […]2022 January 25, Morgan Thomas, Manywhere: Stories, Macmillan + ORM, →ISBN
2. (figuratively) An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide.
3. (figuratively) A strong refuge; a defence.
   • Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 61:3
   • A group of giraffes is called a tower.2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC
4. Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers.
   • Suppliers compete separately for the towers and service integrator and management contract, which assists the government in the integration and operation of its services.2013, Great Britain, The Impact of Government's ICT Savings Initiatives, National Audit Office, page 28
   • 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.2023, Cybellium Ltd, Mastering ISO-IEC 20000-1, page 108
5. The sixteenth named (trump or Major Arcana) card in many Tarot decks, usually deemed an ill omen.
6. The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness.
7. (collective) A group of giraffes.
   • Observe a tower of giraffes feeding on acacia leaves and oxpeckers combing giraffes' coats for parasites2026 July 12, “Observe a tower of giraffes feeding on acacia leaves and oxpeckers combing giraffes' coats for parasites”, in Britannica, archived from the original on 29 Jul 2026
   • A tower of giraffes at the Houston Zoo.2026 April 30, Lakisha Lemons, “A behind the scenes look at the new things coming to the Houston Zoo”, in Spectrum Local News, archived from the original on 29 Jul 2026
8. A metal stand used as a pivot to support a punty at a furnace.
9. (historical) A tall fashionable headdress worn in the time of King William III and Queen Anne.
   • Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers, and curls, and periwigs.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished...
10. (obsolete) High flight; elevation.
    • Nigh in her sight
      The Bird of Jove, stoopt from his aerie tour,
      Two Birds of gayest plume before him drove.1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Verb

tower (third-person singular simple present towers, present participle towering, simple past and past participle towered)

1. (intransitive) To be very tall; to reach a high height.
   • The office block towered into the sky.
   • The tree will eventually tower taller than any of the others.
2. (intransitive) To be high or lofty; to soar.
   • My lord protector's hawks do tower so well.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   • When Hope, the eagle that tower’d, could see
     No cliff beyond him in the sky,
     His pinions were bent droopingly —
     And homeward turn’d his soften’d eye.1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems
3. (obsolete, transitive) To soar into.
   • Her state with oary feet; yet oft they quit
     The dank, and, rising on stiff pennons, tower
     The mid aerial sky1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker...

Noun (2)

UK/ˈtəʊ.ə(ɹ)/US/ˈtoʊ.əɹ/

tower (plural towers)

1. One who tows.
   • But as the tower and towee reached the cross-roads again, another car, negligently driven, came round the corner, hit the Morris, and severed the tow rope, sending the unfortunate car back again into the shop window[…]1933, Henry Sturmey, H. Walter Staner, The Autocar

Proper noun capitalized: Tower

Tower (countable and uncountable, plural Towers)

1. (UK) The Tower of London, especially seen as a place of imprisonment or punishment.
   • Traitors should be sent to the Tower!
2. (countable) A habitational surname.; Alternative form of Towers.
3. A city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States.

Noun (3) capitalized: Tower

Tower

1. (attributive) Denoting the system of weights used by the Saxon and Norman English kings in their minting of coins.