TURRET

turret

(noun) a small tower extending above a building

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

turret (plural turrets)

(architecture) A little tower, frequently a merely ornamental structure at one of the corners of a building or castle.

(historical, military) A siege tower; a movable building, of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaching a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.

(electronics) A tower-like solder post on a turret board (a circuit board with posts instead of holes).

(military) An armoured, rotating gun installation on a fort, ship, aircraft, or armoured fighting vehicle.

(railroads) The elevated central portion of the roof of a passenger car, with sides that are pierced for light and ventilation.

Synonyms

• (military): cupola

Anagrams

• Rutter, rutter

Source: Wiktionary


Tur"ret, n. Etym: [OE. touret, OF. tourette, dim. of tour a tower, L. turris. See Tower.]

1. (Arch.)

Definition: A little tower, frequently a merely ornamental structure at one of the angles of a larger structure.

2. (Anc. Mil.)

Definition: A movable building, of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaching a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.

3. (Mil.)

Definition: A revolving tower constructed of thick iron plates, within which cannon are mounted. Turrets are used on vessels of war and on land.

4. (Railroads)

Definition: The elevated central portion of the roof of a passenger car. Its sides are pierced for light and ventilation. Turret clock, a large clock adapted for an elevated position, as in the tower of a church.

– Turret head (Mach.), a vertical cylindrical revolving tool holder for bringing different tools into action successively in a machine, as in a lathe.

– Turret lathe, a turning lathe having a turret head.

– Turret ship, an ironclad war vessel, with low sides, on which heavy guns are mounted within one or more iron turrets, which may be rotated, so that the guns may be made to bear in any required direction.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

9 May 2025

RIGHT

(noun) anything in accord with principles of justice; “he feels he is in the right”; “the rightfulness of his claim”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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