GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 4 definitions
-
Spire (?), v. i. [L. spirare to breathe. See Spirit.] To breathe. [Obs.] Shenstone.
[1913 Webster]
-
Spire, n. [OE. spire, spir, a blade of grass, a young shoot, AS. spīr; akin to G. spier a blade of grass, Dan. spire a sprout, sprig, Sw. spira a spar, Icel. spīra.]
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]
-
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.
[1913 Webster]
It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms. Mortimer.
[1913 Webster]
-
Spire, n. [L. spira coil, twist; akin to Gr. : cf. F. spire.]
1. A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist. Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Geom.) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n.
[1913 Webster]
Spire bearer. (Paleon.) Same as Spirifer.
[1913 Webster]