spire

plural spires

1. archaicThe stalk or stem of a plant.First known use 10th c.
2. A young shoot of a plant; a spear.First known use 14th c.

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

   1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 12”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC

3. Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
4. A sharp or tapering point.First known use 16th c.

   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.

   1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC

   1 more example

   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.

   2018 July 17, Autumn Spanne, “Check out these crazy rock formations across the United States”, in CNN

5. architectureA tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.First known use 16th c.

   The spire of the church rose high above the town.

   Synonyms: steeple

6. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.First known use 17th c.

   the spire and top of praises

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ix]

7. businessA tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.

present singular third person spires · participle present spiring · participle past spired · past spired

1. plant etc.to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate.First known use 14th c.

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

   1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC

   1 more example

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

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

2. To grow upwards rather than develop horizontally.First known use 14th c.
3. transitiveTo furnish with a spire.

present singular third person spires · participle present spiring · participle past spired · past spired

1. intransitiveobsoleteTo breathe.First known use 14th–16th c.

plural spires

1. One of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile; a coil.First known use 16th c.

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

   1700, [John] Dryden, “Alexander’s Feast; or, The Power of Musique. An Ode, in Honour of St. Cecelia’s Day.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

2. A spiral.First known use 17th c.
3. geometryThe part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole.