Illustration of silo
- silo 1
plural silos
1
: a trench, pit, or especially a tall cylinder (as of wood or concrete) usually sealed to exclude air and used for making and storing silage
2
a
: a deep bin for storing material (such as coal)
b
: an underground structure for housing a guided missile
These are weapons that can hit military targets, such as missile silos and headquarters, swiftly and accurately …—
Leslie H. Gelb
Leslie H. Gelb3
: an isolated grouping, department, etc., that functions apart from others especially in a way seen as hindering communication and cooperation
Big, complex companies are typically structured so that decision making is separated according to function, geography and product. That naturally creates silos.—John H. Howard
John H. HowardExamples of silos in blue-chip firms abound: Sony once had two separate divisions working on creating the same electrical plug without anyone realizing it.—Rana Foroohar
Rana ForooharTo break down silos individual officials need a stronger sense of belonging to a bigger whole, with norms and expectations spanning all departments and agencies.—David Walker
David WalkerMoorhouse came to the paper determined to break down its "silos"—MBA-speak for self-contained departments that don't have anything to do with other departments in a business.—Mark Fitzgerald
Mark Fitzgerald
siloed; siloing; siloes
1
: to place or store (material, such as grain) in a silo
2
: to isolate (someone or something, such as a grouping or department) in a way that hinders communication and cooperation with others : to place (someone or something) in an isolated silo (see silo entry 1 sense 3)
One step banks can take to balance efforts, [Emmett] Higdon suggested, is to stop siloing mobile and online banking development efforts and channels.—Nathan DiCamillo
Nathan DiCamilloExamples of silo in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebBrian Sampson, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Reaching voters is harder than ever in this age when people are constantly on their phones, deep in social media information silos, and actively avoiding political ads and news.
—Tamara Keith, NPR, 24 Mar. 2024
Suddenly, the wild rumors that existed in a social media silo went mainstream.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 19 Mar. 2024
This is why networking is so crucial; instead of working in silos, women should get information.
—Abiola Salami, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
The 800-year-old ruins included a home, evidence of agricultural and cattle farming and 30 silos used for storage.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
But for past six months, Russia has been targeting grain silos and naval infrastructure with drones and missiles.
—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Read Next National Secret wine cellar, silo guest house and a lake?
—Tj MacIas, Sacramento Bee, 5 Mar. 2024
While taking down a silo, the structure collapsed and trapped Alan Prien, of Monroe, the Green County Sheriff’s office said.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 23 Feb. 2024
IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2010
This can be challenging in some environments where there is a tendency for teams to silo themselves away from others, or for companies with a remote or hybrid workforce.
—Tim Eyre, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Modern computers and servers are specifically designed to silo data so multiple users can share the same processing resources without being able to access each others’ data.
—Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 16 Jan. 2024
Gone was the governor who launched his campaign talking about the value of Bitcoin on a buggy website and proceeded to silo himself in niche forums maintained by professional controversialists.
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 13 Dec. 2023
Some of the biggest security and privacy benefits on Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are less obvious, though, and relate to how Tensor and Google's additional Titan M2 security chip work to silo and defend sensitive data.
—Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 27 Oct. 2021
Now Meta and its peers have a legal basis to keep going in Europe without having to silo off their operations there.
—Bydavid Meyer, Fortune, 10 July 2023
Reactive content marketers silo their content efforts within their department.
—Joel Goobich, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2021
Instead politically polarized Google users tend to silo themselves by clicking on links to partisan news sites.
—Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 24 May 2023
Noun
Milwaukee’s big three is still figuring out ways to play off each other instead of in silos.
—Brian Sampson, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Reaching voters is harder than ever in this age when people are constantly on their phones, deep in social media information silos, and actively avoiding political ads and news.
—Tamara Keith, NPR, 24 Mar. 2024
Suddenly, the wild rumors that existed in a social media silo went mainstream.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 19 Mar. 2024
This is why networking is so crucial; instead of working in silos, women should get information.
—Abiola Salami, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
The 800-year-old ruins included a home, evidence of agricultural and cattle farming and 30 silos used for storage.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
But for past six months, Russia has been targeting grain silos and naval infrastructure with drones and missiles.
—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Read Next National Secret wine cellar, silo guest house and a lake?
—Tj MacIas, Sacramento Bee, 5 Mar. 2024
While taking down a silo, the structure collapsed and trapped Alan Prien, of Monroe, the Green County Sheriff’s office said.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 23 Feb. 2024
Verb
Virtualization then had two functions, to silo data and to translate commands for the underlying hardware.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2010
This can be challenging in some environments where there is a tendency for teams to silo themselves away from others, or for companies with a remote or hybrid workforce.
—Tim Eyre, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Modern computers and servers are specifically designed to silo data so multiple users can share the same processing resources without being able to access each others’ data.
—Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 16 Jan. 2024
Gone was the governor who launched his campaign talking about the value of Bitcoin on a buggy website and proceeded to silo himself in niche forums maintained by professional controversialists.
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 13 Dec. 2023
Some of the biggest security and privacy benefits on Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are less obvious, though, and relate to how Tensor and Google's additional Titan M2 security chip work to silo and defend sensitive data.
—Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 27 Oct. 2021
Now Meta and its peers have a legal basis to keep going in Europe without having to silo off their operations there.
—Bydavid Meyer, Fortune, 10 July 2023
Reactive content marketers silo their content efforts within their department.
—Joel Goobich, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2021
Instead politically polarized Google users tend to silo themselves by clicking on links to partisan news sites.
—Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 24 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'silo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near silo
Cite this Entry
“Silo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silo. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
silo
noun
si·lo
ˈsī-lō 
plural silos
1
: a trench, pit, or especially a tall cylinder (as of wood or concrete) used for making and storing silage
2
: an underground structure for housing a missile
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