In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
SPIRES
Noun
spires
plural of spire
Verb
spires
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of spire
Anagrams
• Persis, Speirs, Spiers, persis, pisser, prises, resips
Source: Wiktionary
SPIRE
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
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
25 January 2025
DERMATOGLYPHICS
(noun) the study of the whorls and loops and arches in the fingertips and on the palms of the hand and the soles of the feet; “some criminologists specialize in dermatoglyphics”
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