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spiremore about spire

spire

 

  5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Spire  \Spire\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Spired};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Spiring}.] 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Spire  \Spire\,  n.  [L.  spira  coil,  twist;  akin  to  Gr  ???:  cf  F. 
  spire.] 
  1.  A  spiral;  a  curl;  a  whorl;  a  twist.  --Dryden. 
 
  2.  (Geom.)  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}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Spire  \Spire\,  v.  i.  [L.  spirare  to  breathe.  See  {Spirit}.] 
  To  breathe.  [Obs.]  --Shenstone. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Spire  \Spire\,  n.  [OE.  spire,  spir,  a  blade  of  grass,  a  young 
  shoot,  AS  sp[=i]r;  akin  to  G.  spier  a  blade  of  grass,  Dan. 
  spire  a  sprout,  sprig,  Sw  spira  a  spar,  Icel.  sp[=i]ra.] 
  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)  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  spire 
  n  :  a  tall  tower  that  forms  the  superstructure  of  a  building 
  (usually  a  church  or  temple)  and  that  tapers  to  a  point 
  at  the  top  [syn:  {steeple}]




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