towered


Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

tow·er

 (tou′ər)
n.
1. A building or part of a building that is exceptionally high in proportion to its width and length.
2. A tall, slender structure used for observation, signaling, or pumping.
3. One that conspicuously embodies strength, firmness, or another virtue.
4. Computers A computer system whose components are arranged in a vertical stack and housed in a tall, narrow cabinet.
intr.v. tow·ered, tow·er·ing, tow·ers
1. To appear at or rise to a conspicuous height; loom: "There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them" (J.R.R. Tolkien).
2. To fly directly upward before swooping or falling. Used of certain birds.
3. To demonstrate great superiority; be preeminent: towers over other poets of the day.

[Middle English tur, tour, towr, from Old English torr and from Old French tur, both from Latin turris, probably from Greek tursis, turris.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

towered

(ˈtaʊəd)
adj
(Architecture)
a. having a tower or towers
b. (in combination): four-towered; high-towered.
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
References in periodicals archive ?
The great dowager queen of Manhattan, the Empire State Building, towered over the cityscape like Oz when in was completed in a civic display of triumph over the Great Depression.