- Tower
- Tower Tow"er, n. [OE. tour,tor,tur, F. tour, L. turris; akin
to Gr. ?; cf. W. twr a tower, Ir. tor a castle, Gael. torr a
tower, castle. Cf. {Tor}, {Turret}.]
1. (Arch.)
(a) A mass of building standing alone and insulated,
usually higher than its diameter, but when of great
size not always of that proportion.
(b) A projection from a line of wall, as a fortification,
for purposes of defense, as a flanker, either or the
same height as the curtain wall or higher.
(c) A structure appended to a larger edifice for a special
purpose, as for a belfry, and then usually high in
proportion to its width and to the height of the rest
of the edifice; as, a church tower.
[1913 Webster]
2. A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defense. [1913 Webster]
Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. --Ps. lxi. 3. [1913 Webster]
3. A headdress of a high or towerlike form, fashionable about the end of the seventeenth century and until 1715; also, any high headdress. [1913 Webster]
Lay trains of amorous intrigues In towers, and curls, and periwigs. --Hudibras. [1913 Webster]
4. High flight; elevation. [Obs.] --Johnson. [1913 Webster]
{Gay Lussac's tower} (Chem.), a large tower or chamber used in the sulphuric acid process, to absorb (by means of concentrated acid) the spent nitrous fumes that they may be returned to the Glover's tower to be reemployed. See {Sulphuric acid}, under {Sulphuric}, and {Glover's tower}, below.
{Glover's tower} (Chem.), a large tower or chamber used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, to condense the crude acid and to deliver concentrated acid charged with nitrous fumes. These fumes, as a catalytic, effect the conversion of sulphurous to sulphuric acid. See {Sulphuric acid}, under {Sulphuric}, and {Gay Lussac's tower}, above.
{Round tower}. See under {Round}, a.
{Shot tower}. See under {Shot}.
{Tower bastion} (Fort.), a bastion of masonry, often with chambers beneath, built at an angle of the interior polygon of some works.
{Tower mustard} (Bot.), the cruciferous plant {Arabis perfoliata}.
{Tower of London}, a collection of buildings in the eastern part of London, formerly containing a state prison, and now used as an arsenal and repository of various objects of public interest. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
