SPIRING
Etymology
Adjective
spiring (not comparable)
Shooting up in a spire or spires.
Anagrams
• prising, risping
Source: Wiktionary
Spir"ing, a.
Definition: Shooting up in a spire or spires. "The spiring grass." Dryton.
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
11 May 2024
FATIGUE
(noun) (always used with a modifier) boredom resulting from overexposure to something; “he was suffering from museum fatigue”; “after watching TV with her husband she had a bad case of football fatigue”; “the American public is experiencing scandal fatigue”; “political fatigue”
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