silo

plural silos · plural siloes

1. agricultureA vertical building, usually cylindrical, used for the production of silage.
2. agricultureFrom the shape, a building used for the storage of grain.

   Synonyms: granary, grain elevator

3. governmentAn underground bunker used to hold missiles which may be launched.

   As a rule of thumb, to reliably destroy a hardened missile silo or communications bunker, a one megaton warhead should land within a 600 foot radius of its target. This will ensure that the enemy silo lies within the crater gouged out by the nuclear blast.

   1987, Michio Kaku, Daniel Axelrod, To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans, Black Rose Books Ltd., →ISBN, page 203

4. derogatoryinformalmanagementAn organizational unit that has poor interaction with other units, negatively affecting overall performance.

   A silo is created when members in one department or function do not interact with those in another department, even though there might be operational benefits to the interaction.

   2006, Albert J. Mills, Jean C. Helms Mills, John Bratton, Organizational Behaviour in a Global Context, page 116

   2 more examples

   Graeme Bickerdike, a member of campaign organisation The HRE Group, told RAIL: "This infilling and demolition programme - costing much more than repair - has been conceived with no thought for its impact beyond the silos where distant, unaccountable officials manage their spreadsheets.

   2021 May 5, Tony Streeter, “Network News: Disused structures "assets to be preserved", say MPs”, in RAIL, number 930, page 23

   "And the mindset of a silo of rail engineers, and a silo of highway engineers, and a silo of bus experts, and a silo of active travel people, you're not going to integrate just because you put them in one organisation. "You have to actively look at ways to cross-fertilise that thinking, to get multi-modal projects hard-wired in. And from our view, I see TfW as a behaviour change organisation.

   2024 February 7, Lee Waters tells Conrad Landin, “A mission to improve transport for Wales”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 34

5. derogatoryinformalcomputingA structure in the information system that is poorly networked with other structures, with data exchange hampered.

   Our networking is organized in silos, and employees lose time manually transferring data.

   Synonyms: information silo

6. derogatoryslangA group of like-minded individuals who are not exposed to outside opinions or input.

   Synonyms: echo chamber

7. computingIn Microsoft Windows operating systems, a kernel object for isolating groups of threads.

present singular third person siloes · present singular third person silos · participle present siloing · participle past siloed · past siloed

1. transitiveTo store in a silo.

   Synonyms: ensile

2. transitiveTo separate; to isolate.

   Sheel Mohnot, a venture capitalist friend of Bi’s who has commissioned twiblings, said the problem is that information is siloed when “each agency has their own database of wombs.”

   2025 September 3, Emi Nietfeld, Wired, archived from the original on 03 Sep 2025

   1 more example

   Then there’s the fact that platforms like TikTok tend to silo users based on interests. Niche communities (insert hobby here plus Tok) are thriving, and so a person who may be famous on FarmTok or BookTok may have trouble breaking out of the mold.

   2024 June 26, Stephanie McNeal, “Influencers Aren’t Getting Famous Like They Used To”, in Glamour