spire Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
    steeple.

WordNet

Spire intransitive verb
Etymology
L. spirare to breathe. See Spirit.
Definitions
  1. To breathe. Obs. Shenstone.
Spire noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.
Spire intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Spired ; present participle & verbal noun Spiring
Definitions
  1. 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 noun
Etymology
L. spira coil, twist; akin to Gr. : cf. F. spire.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913