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Dictionary:

tower

  (tou'ər) pronunciation
n.
  1. A building or part of a building that is exceptionally high in proportion to its width and length.
  2. A tall, slender structure used for observation, signaling, or pumping.
  3. One that conspicuously embodies strength, firmness, or another virtue.
  4. Computer Science. A computer system whose components are arranged in a vertical stack and housed in a tall, narrow cabinet.
intr.v., -ered, -er·ing, -ers.
  1. To appear at or rise to a conspicuous height; loom: “There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them” (J.R.R. Tolkien). See synonyms at rise.
  2. To fly directly upward before swooping or falling. Used of certain birds.
  3. To demonstrate great superiority; be preeminent: towers over other poets of the day.

[Middle English tur, tour, towr, from Old English torr and from Old French tur, both from Latin turris, probably from Greek tursis, turris.]


 
 
Sci-Tech Encyclopedia: Tower

A concrete, metal, or timber structure that is relatively high for its length and width. Towers are constructed for many purposes, including the support of electric power transmission lines, radio and television antennas, and rockets and missiles prior to launching.

Transmission towers are rectangular in plan and are not steadied by guy wires. A transmission tower is subjected to a number of forces; its own weight, the pull of the cables at the top of the tower, the effect of wind and ice on the cable, and the effect of wind on the tower itself.

Radio and television towers are either guyed or freestanding. Freestanding towers are usually rectangular in plan. In addition to their own weight, freestanding towers support the weight of the antenna and accessories and the weight of ice, unless a deicing circuit is installed. Wind forces must also be carefully considered. Guyed towers are usually triangular in plan, with the main structural members, or legs, at the vertexes of the triangle. The legs are usually solid round steel bars. See also Antenna (electromagnetism); Transmission lines.

 
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: tower

(1) A floor-standing cabinet taller than it is wide. Desktop computers can be made into towers by turning them on their side and inserting them into a floor-mounted base.

(2) (Tower) Earlier series of Unix-based single and multiprocessor computer systems from NCR that used the Motorola 68000 family of CPUs.


 
Idioms: tower

Idioms beginning with tower:
tower of strength

In addition to the idiom beginning with tower, also see ivory tower

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: tower

Any freestanding or attached structure that is relatively tall in proportion to its base. The Romans, Byzantines, and medieval Europeans built defensive towers as part of the fortifications of their city walls (e.g., the Tower of London). Indian temple architecture uses towers of various types (e.g., the sikhara). Towers were an important feature of churches and cathedrals built in the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Some Gothic church towers were designed to carry a spire; others had flat roofs. The Italian campanile could either be attached to a church or freestanding. The use of towers declined somewhat during the Renaissance but reappeared in Baroque architecture. The use of steel frames enabled buildings to reach unprecedented heights; the Eiffel Tower in Paris was the first structure to reveal the true vertical potential of steel construction.

For more information on tower, visit Britannica.com.

 
Architecture: tower

A structure or building characterized by its relatively great height as compared with its horizontal dimensions; also see shot tower and torreón.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: tower,
structure, the greatest dimension of which is its height. Towers have belonged to two general types. The first embodies practical uses such as defense (characteristic of the Middle Ages), to carry bells, beacons, or antennas, and to utilize maximum floor space in a given area, as in modern skyscrapers. The second type is used to symbolize the authority and power of religious and civic bodies, as in the churches and town halls of Europe; skyscrapers also perform a similar function for modern corporations. The earliest use of tall structures for ritual and symbolism is seen in the Babylonian ziggurat. The temple architecture of India had a variety of pyramidal and cylindrical masonry towers. The many-storied pagoda in wood was a part of early Chinese and Japanese temple architecture. The minaret belongs to Islamic religious architecture. Used for defensive purposes in the early Middle Ages in Western Europe, towers with massive masonry walls served as refuges and lookouts. Many 9th- and 10th-century round defense towers remain in Ireland and a few in Scotland, including one at Brechin. Castles had their donjons or keeps, of which the 11th-century Tower of London shows a high development. Of the fortified towers that Italian nobles built even for their city dwellings numerous examples remain, notably at San Gimignano. The earliest existing church towers in Europe were those of the 5th and 6th cent. in Ravenna, Italy. There the bell tower, or campanile, stood detached from the church building itself; another example is the celebrated bell tower at Pisa (1174). In English and French Romanesque churches a high tower rises over the crossing of nave and transepts, and the west end generally possesses lower twin towers. The relatively simple Romanesque towers generally had square or round shafts with many blind arcades in horizontal tiers and were topped by a simple octagonal or conical spire. They developed into the higher, elaborate type of Gothic, decorated with pinnacles and canopied niches. Towers of extreme lightness and intricacy were developed in the late Gothic period, as in the cathedrals at Rouen, Vienna, and Antwerp. With the Renaissance the classical orders were incorporated into tower design. Particular success was attained in the tapering pyramidal compositions of Sir Christopher Wren's numerous London towers, including those of St. Paul's Cathedral. English churches, e.g., St. Martin-in-the-Fields by James Gibbs, set the pattern for the typical New England church with the wooden tower and steeple rising directly over the entrance vestibule. In the 20th cent. towers have often taken the form of skyscrapers. Notable modern towers of varied design and function include the highly original Einstein Tower at Potsdam by Erich Mendelsohn and Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson tower with glass tubing at Racine, Wis.

 
Word Tutor: tower
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - A structure taller than its diameter; v. - Appear very large or occupy a commanding position.

pronunciation A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands. — William Lyon Phelps

 
Wikipedia: tower


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CN Tower (the world's tallest) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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CN Tower (the world's tallest) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
High-tech TV Tower in Prague.
Enlarge
High-tech TV Tower in Prague.
El Faro towers in Buenos Aires, Argentina one of the tallest towers in the city
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El Faro towers in Buenos Aires, Argentina one of the tallest towers in the city

Towers are tall human-made structures, always (and usually much) taller than they are wide. Towers are generally built to take advantage of their height, and can stand alone or as part of a larger structure. Examples of the various uses of towers include:

Skyscrapers are often not classified as towers, although most have the same design and structure of towers. In the United Kingdom, tall domestic buildings are referred to as tower blocks. In the United States, the now-destroyed World Trade Center had the nickname the Twin Towers, a name shared with the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

The term "tower" is also sometimes used to refer to firefighting equipment with an extremely tall ladder designed for use in firefighting/rescue operations involving high-rise buildings.

History

Probably the oldest tower still standing is the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy built from 1173 until 1372.[citation needed] The oldest towers in the United States are the Milwaukee City Hall, built in 1895 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the Woolworth Building, completed in 1913 in New York City.

Etymology

Old English torr is from Latin turris via Old French tor. The Latin term together with Greek τύρσις was loaned from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, connected with the Illyrian toponym Βου-δοργίς. With the Lydian toponyms Τύρρα, Τύρσα, it has been connected with the ethnonym Τυρρήνιοι as well as with Tusci (from *Turs-ci), the Greek and Latin names for the Etruscans (Kretschmer Glotta 22, 110ff.)

See also

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Translations: Translations for: Tower

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tårn
v. intr. - hæve sig højt

idioms:

  • tower above    knejse
  • tower block    højhus, punkthus
  • Tower of Babel    Babelstårnet
  • tower of strength    en fast borg
  • tower over    hæve sig over, være højt hævet over

Nederlands (Dutch)
toren, uittorenen (boven)

Français (French)
n. - tour
v. intr. - dominer

idioms:

  • tower above    dominer (un rival)
  • tower block    (GB) tour d'habitation
  • Tower of Babel    Tour de Babel
  • tower of strength    (être) d'un grand soutien
  • tower over    être plus grand que, dominer de toute sa hauteur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Turm, Kontrollturm, Festung, Bollwerk
v. - aufragen, überragen, hochfliegen

idioms:

  • tower above    emporragen Über
  • tower block    Hochhaus
  • Tower of Babel    Turm von Babel
  • tower of strength    fester Rückhalt
  • tower over    Überragen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πύργος
v. - ορθώνομαι, υψώνομαι, δεσπόζω, ανέρχομαι σε μεγάλο ύψος

idioms:

  • tower above    δεσπόζω, υψώνομαι πάνω από
  • tower block    πολυώροφο κτίριο γραφείων ή κατοικιών (κν. πύργος)
  • Tower of Babel    Πύργος της Βαβέλ
  • tower of strength    βράχος ακλόνητος
  • tower over    δεσπόζω ή υψώνομαι πάνω από

Italiano (Italian)
torre, torreggiare

idioms:

  • tower block    grattacielo
  • Tower of Babel    torre di Babele
  • tower of strength    sostegno

Português (Portuguese)
n. - defesa (f), torre (f), fortaleza (f), refúgio (m)
v. - destacar-se, elevar-se, dominar

idioms:

  • tower above/over    superar em habilidade ou em intelecto
  • tower block    defesa (f)
  • Tower of Babel    torre de babel (f)
  • tower of strength    apoio, defesa

Русский (Russian)
башня, вышка, крепость, цитадель, выситься, возвышаться над чем-л.

idioms:

  • tower above/over    быть выше других, превосходить
  • tower block    громоздкое здание
  • Tower of Babel    Вавилонская башня, (фиг.) смешение понятий, неразбериха
  • tower of strength    оплот

Español (Spanish)
n. - torre, campanario, fortaleza, bastida
v. intr. - elevarse, encumbrarse, descollar, sobresalir

idioms:

  • tower above    dominar, destacarse sobre
  • tower block    torre, edificio de departamentos u oficinas
  • Tower of Babel    Torre de Babel
  • tower of strength    ayuda muy valiosa
  • tower over    dominar, destacarse sobre

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - torn, borg, kraftkälla
v. - torna upp sig, resa sig

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
塔, 堡垒, 高楼, 高耸, 屹立, 超过, 胜过, 高高升起, 高飞, 翱翔

idioms:

  • tower above    高出, 胜过
  • tower block    高层建筑, 摩天大楼
  • Tower of Babel    巴别通天塔, 空想计划
  • tower of strength    可信赖的人, 可依靠的人, 支柱
  • tower over    远高于..., 高出, 超过, 胜过

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 塔, 堡壘, 高樓
v. intr. - 高聳, 屹立, 超過, 勝過, 高高升起, 高飛, 翱翔

idioms:

  • tower above    高出, 勝過
  • tower block    高層建築, 摩天大樓
  • Tower of Babel    巴別通天塔, 空想計劃
  • tower of strength    可信賴的人, 可依靠的人, 支柱
  • tower over    遠高於..., 高出, 超過, 勝過

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 탑, 철도 신호소, 고층 빌딩
v. intr. - 솟다, 뛰어나다

idioms:

  • tower above    ~보다 훨씬 높다, 눈에 띄다, 뛰어나다
  • tower over    뛰어나다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 塔, タワー, とりで, やぐら
v. - 高くそびえる, 抜きん出ている, そびえる

idioms:

  • tower above/over    高くそびえる, 抜きんでる
  • tower block    高層ビル
  • Tower of Babel    バベルの塔, 非現実的な計画
  • tower of strength    頼みとなる人物

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قلعه, برج (فعل) يتفوق, يحلق, يرتفع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מגדל, מצודה, צריח‬
v. intr. - ‮התנשא, התרומם‬

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Sci-Tech Encyclopedia. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2008 Computer Language Company Inc.  All rights reserved.  Read more
Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
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