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
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.
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.
spire (third-person singular simple present spires, present participle spiring, simple past and past participle spired)
(intransitive, obsolete) To breathe. [14th-16th c.]
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.
• 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
9 May 2025
(noun) anything in accord with principles of justice; “he feels he is in the right”; “the rightfulness of his claim”
According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by AlcaldĂa Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de BolĂvar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.
