- Spire
- 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.
[1913 Webster]
An oak cometh up a little spire. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
A spire of land that stand apart, Cleft from the main. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
Tall spire from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
3. (Mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting. [1913 Webster]
4. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit. [1913 Webster]
The spire and top of praises. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.