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Definition of tower noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

tower

noun
 
 
/ˈtaʊə(r)/
 
/ˈtaʊər/
Idioms
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  1.  
     a tall narrow building or part of a building, especially of a church or castle
    • a bell tower
    • the Eiffel Tower
    • a 19-storey office tower
    • The castle is rectangular in shape, with a tower at each corner.
    see also clock tower, conning tower, control tower, cooling tower, ivory tower, Martello tower, the Twin Towers, watchtower, water tower
    Extra Examples
    • Armed guards manned the lookout towers.
    • They lived in a ten-storey tower in the town centre.
    • Twin towers flanked the castle gateway.
    • the spot where the towers once stood
    • The brick tower was built in around four months.
    Topics Buildingsa2, Religion and festivalsa2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • high
    • high-rise
    • lofty
    • …
    tower + verb
    • collapse
    • fall
    • stand
    • …
    tower + noun
    • block
    See full entry
  2. (often in compounds) a tall structure used for sending television or radio signals
    • a television tower
    Topics TV, radio and newsb2
  3. (usually in compounds) a tall piece of furniture used for storing things
    • a CD tower
    4. Word OriginOld English torr, reinforced in Middle English by Old French tour, from Latin turris, from Greek.
Idioms
a tower of strength
  1. a person that you can rely on to help, protect and comfort you when you are in trouble
    • He was a tower of strength to his sisters when their father died.
See tower in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee tower in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: tower

Nearby words

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adjective
 
 
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