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spire

noun
/spaɪə/UK/ˈspaɪ.ɚ/US

Etymology

From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.

  1. inherited from *spīrō✻
  2. inherited from spīr
  3. inherited from spire

Definitions

  1. The stalk or stem of a plant.

  2. A young shoot of a plant

    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.

  3. Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed…

    Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.

  4. ›+ 11 more definitions

    1. 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.

    2. A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central…

      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.

    3. The top, or uppermost point, of anything

      The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.

      • the spire and top of praises

    4. A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.

    5. to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth

      to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate.

      • In gentle Ladies breste and bounteous race / Of woman kind it fayrest Flowre doth spyre, / And beareth fruit of honour and all chast desyre.
      • It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.

    6. To grow upwards rather than develop horizontally.

    7. To furnish with a spire.

    8. To breathe.

    9. One of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile

      One of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile; a coil.

      • A dragon's fiery form bely'd the god: Sublime on radiant spires he rode.

    10. A spiral.

    11. The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for spire. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA