释义 |
spire I. \ˈspī(ə)r, -īə\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English spir, spire, from Old English spīr; akin to Middle Dutch spier shoot, blade of grass, Old Norse spīra stalk, Latin spina thorn, spine — more at spine 1. : a slender tapering blade or stalk (as of grass or grain) 2. a. obsolete : a germinating plant : sprout b. dialect Britain : sapling 3. : the top or end of something and especially of something held to taper to a point : the sharp tip : pinnacle < the spire of a tree > < a spire of flame > 4. : a conical heap or pile : a mass of pyramidal form < spires of rock > 5. a. : a steeply tapering roof or analogous pyramidal construction surmounting a tower or towerlike structure b. : steeple II. intransitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: Middle English spiren, from spir, spire, n. 1. : to send forth or develop shoots : germinate, sprout < seeds spire under suitable conditions > 2. of a plant : to run to stalk or stem : become spindly 3. : to shoot up into a spire : run up taperingly like a spire : mount or soar aloft < a towering crag … spired up — Thomas Gray > III. noun (-s) Etymology: Latin spira coil, twist, from Greek speira; akin to Greek sparton rope, esparto, Lithuanian spriñgti to choke on something 1. : spiral : a sinuous winding (as a serpent) : coil, curl, twist, whorl 2. : a series of curls or coils 3. : the upper part of a spiral shell including the whole series of whorls except the last or body whorl 4. : spiralium IV. intransitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) : to rise, fall, or otherwise move in or as if in a spiral : mount or soar spirally < up, up spires the song — Amy Lowell > |