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Noun
Home in the Hills Above Lake Geneva, Switzerland Along Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), the skyline stops at church spires, yet altitude is everywhere.—Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025 Churchill turned the draw into an event last year in time for the 150th Derby, moving what typically was a mid-afternoon, early week private event into a show set beneath the twin spires.—Dana O'Neil, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
Verb
On April 15, a fire broke out in the attic and spread across the roof and spire before firefighters were alerted.—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 21 May 2025 Both crosses were removed from the cathedral’s steeple and spire in 1998 for building renovations.—Killian Baarlaer, The Courier-Journal, 24 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for spire
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English, from Old English spīr; akin to Middle Dutch spier blade of grass
Noun (2)
Latin spira coil, from Greek speira; perhaps akin to Greek sparton rope, esparto
First Known Use
Noun (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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