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SPIRE
steeple, spire
(noun) a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
spire (plural spires)
(now rare) The stalk or stem of a plant. [from 10th c.]
A young shoot of a plant; a spear. [from 14th c.]
Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
A sharp or tapering point. [from 16th c.]
A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof. [from 16th c.]
The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit. [from 17th c.]
(mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.
Verb
spire (third-person singular simple present spires, present participle spiring, simple past and past participle spired)
(of a seed, plant etc.) to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate. [from 14th c.]
To grow upwards rather than develop horizontally. [from 14th c.]
(transitive) To furnish with a spire.
Etymology 2
Verb
spire (third-person singular simple present spires, present participle spiring, simple past and past participle spired)
(intransitive, obsolete) To breathe. [14th-16th c.]
Etymology 3
Noun
spire (plural spires)
One of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile; a coil. [from 16th c.]
A spiral. [from 17th c.]
(geometry) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole.
Anagrams
• Peris, Piers, Speir, Spier, peris, piers, pries, prise, resip, ripes, spier
Source: Wiktionary
Spire, v. i. Etym: [L. spirare to breathe. See Spirit.]
Definition: To breathe. [Obs.] Shenstone.
Spire, n. Etym: [OE. spire, spir, a blade of grass, a young shoot, AS. spir; akin to G. spier a blade of grass, Dan. spire a sprout, sprig, Sw. spira a spar, Icel. spira.]
1. A slender stalk or blade in vegetation; as, a spire grass or of wheat. An oak cometh up a little spire. Chaucer.
2. A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself. "With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned." Milton. A spire of land that stand apart, Cleft from the main. Tennyson. Tall spire from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear. Cowper.
3. (Mining)
Definition: A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting.
4. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit. The spire and top of praises. Shak.
Spire, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Spired; p. pr. & vb. n. Spiring.]
Definition: To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire. Emerson. It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms. Mortimer.
Spire, n. Etym: [L. spira coil, twist; akin to Gr. spire.]
1. A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist. Dryden.
2. (Geom.)
Definition: The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n. Spire bearer. (Paleon.) Same as Spirifer.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; “my left hand”; “left center field”; “the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream”
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