Meaning

(now rare) The stalk or stem of a plant..

Definitions by Sense

1. (now rare) The stalk or stem of a plant.
2. A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
3. Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
4. A sharp or tapering point.
5. (architecture) A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
6. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
7. (mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.
8. (of a seed, plant etc.) to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate.

Example Sentences

Clara had pulled a button from a hollyhock spire, and was breaking it to get the seeds.

A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.

This park’s strange and beautiful rock formations were formed by the Yellowstone River and various streams that have cut through the rock over millions of years, carving out hoodoos, spires and caprocks. The name Makoshika comes from a Lakota word for badlands.

The spire of the church rose high above the town.

the spire and top of praises

In gentle Ladies breste and bounteous race / Of woman kind it fayrest Flowre doth spyre, / And beareth fruit of honour and all chast desyre.

It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.

A dragon's fiery form bely'd the god: Sublime on radiant spires he rode.

Word Forms

• spires
• spiring
• spired

Synonyms for spire

Related Words

When Should You Use Spire?

Use spire when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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