tower 
minarets attached to Mohammedan mosques; the lofty 
bell-towers of Russia ; the pillar or round towers i 
Ireland, and other places (see round tower); tin 
and octagonal towers at the west ends, crossings, etc., of 
6406 
to wing-net 
the lofty Adriatic and on the Danube are called Maximilian towen toweling (tou'er-ing) n \ Verbal n of tmci-r 
of India, (Laromxe). Mural to wer. Seemwrai. Round tower, ,. n 'Php iff of nna wtin tn\vpr- ai ^ifimllir' 
e square a tall, slender tower one vv no tow ere, specifically, 
the convulsive action of a bird which, when 
wounded in a certain way, flies straight up in 
the air as long as life lasts, and then drops dead; 
also, the flight thus made. See the quotation. 
Towers Forming the Chief Element in a Church Design. Western 
facade of Notre Dame, Paris, built in the izth and the early part of 
the I3th century. 
churches ; the massive keeps and gate- and wall-towers of 
castles and mansions ; the peels of Scottish fortresses ; the 
pagodas of India and China; the pharos, the campanile, 
and a great variety of similar buildings. Compare spirei 
and steeple, and see cuts under bridge-tower, campanile, 
castle, gabled, gate-tower, keep, lantern, pagoda, peel, and 
Rhenish, 
On the West syde is a fair Tour and an highe, for Belles, 
strongly made. ilandeville, Travels, p. 75. 
tapering from the 
base upward, of cir- 
cular section, and 
generally with a con- 
ical top. Round tow- 
ers are often met 
with in Ireland, and 
occur, but much 
more rarely, in Scot- 
land, rising from 30 
to 130 feet in height, 
and having a diame- 
ter of from 20 to :iO 
feet. A variety of 
theories have been 
advanced in regard 
to the period of 
these towers and 
the purposes they 
were designed to 
serve, and antiquari- 
an opinion has been 
greatly divided on 
these subjects; their 
construction has 
been assigned by 
some leading au- 
thorities to a period 
ranging from the 
ninth to the twelfth 
century, and they 
have been supposed 
to have served as 
strongholds into 
Round Tower at Ardm. 
Waterford, Ireland. 
County 
which, in times of danger, the ecclesiastics, and perhaps ' "^ ""," ' ' 
the inhabitants of the neighborhood, could retreat with merj y classed as 
' 
The "fixing of the wing" of amortally wounded bird . . . 
is simply a muscular rigidity, due to nervous shock, and 
of apart with the convulsive muscular action which, un- 
der similar circumstances, results in the well-known tow- 
ering of hard-hit birds. Coues, Science, X. 322. 
towerlet (tou'er-let), 11. [< tower* + -let.'} A 
little tower. J. Bai/lie. [Rare.] 
tower-mill (tou'er-mil), n. Same as xiHOfk-iuill. 
tower-mustard (tou'er-mus"tard), n. A crucif- 
erous plant, Arabis perfoliata, found in Europe, 
Asia, North America, and Australia. It Is an 
erect plant 2 feet high, with clasping leaves and long and 
very narrow erect pods. The name is applied also to the 
tower-cress. 
tower-owl (tou'er-oul), n. The belfry-owl or 
church-owl : so called from its frequent or 
habitual nesting-place in populous districts. 
See cut under barn-owl. 
A special variety of owl, the tower-owl, which preferably 
nests in bell-towers of churches. Pop. Sci. Mo. , XXX. 401 . 
tower-shell (tou'er-shel), ii. A gastropod of 
the family Turritellidse. 
towerwort (tou'er-wert), it. The tower-mus- 
tard and some allied species of Arabis, for- 
, 
their valuables. Tower bastion, in fort., a small tower towery (tou'er-i), a. [< tower + !.] 1. Hav- 
In the early pointed architecture of England, western 
towers are less common and less imposing than those of 
early Gothic buildings in France. But the Norman fea- 
ture of a vast tower at the crossing of nave and transept, 
seldom adopted by the French Gothic builders, was per- 
petuated in England. 
C. H. Moore, Gothic Architecture, p. 165. 
2. In early and medieval warfare, a tall, movable f . f , t .. 
wooden structure used in storming a fortified tower* (tou'er), 
place. The height of the tower was such as to overtop 
the walls and other fortifications of the besieged place. 
Such towers were frequently combined with a battcring- 
in the form of a bastion, with rooms or cells underneath 
for men and guns. Tower of London (often called 
simply tlte Tower), a tower or keep, now a large assem- 
blage of buildings occupying an area of 12 or 13 acres, on 
an elevation just beyond the old walls of the city of Lon- 
don, southeastward, on the northern bank of the Thames. 
The tower proper, called the White Tower, is the keep of 
the castle built by William the Conqueror. The Tower was 
originally at once a fortress or citadel and a palace, where 
the kings of England sometimes resided ; and it was after- 
ward used as a state prison. To the northwest is Tower 
Hill, where stood the scaffold for the execution of traitors. 
The collection of buildings now included under the name 
of the Tower is used as an arsenal, a garrison, and a re- 
pository of various objects of public interest. Tower of 
silence. See silence. Water-tower. Same as stand- 
pipe, 1. 
[< tower 1 , .] I. intrans. 1. 
ing towers; adorned or defended by towers; 
towered. [Rare.] 
Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise ! 
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes ! 
Pope, Messiah, 1. 8T. 
2. Lofty; elevated; towering. 
I, who for very sport of heart would . . . pluck down 
A vulture from his towery perching. Keats, Endymion, i. 
'Via<^ * rv *,,.S -1- J.,,,,,7 1 1 A 
bed), n. \_<-tou<s + head.] 1. A 
flaxen-haired person. 2. One whose hair is 
tousled or rumpled up like a bunch of tow. 
3. The hooded merganser, Lophodytes cuc.iilln- 
tus; the mosshead. G. Trumbull, 1888. See cut 
under merganser. [Southern U. S.] 
ram, and thus served the double purpose of breaching 
the walls and giving protection to the besiegers. 
3. A citadel ; a fortress ; a place of defense or 
protection. 
Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a si 
from the enemy. 
4f. In astral. , a mansion. 
Now fleeth Venus into Cylenius tour. 
Chaucer, Complaint of Mars, 1. 113. 
5. In Tier., a bearing representing a fortified 
tower with battlements and usually a gate with 
a portcullis. 6. A high commode or head- 
dress worn by women in the 
reigns of William III. and 
Anne. It was built up of paste- 
board, ribbons, and lace; the lace 
and ribbons were disposed in alter- 
nate tiers, or the latter were formed 
into high stiffened bows, draped or 
not, according to taste, with a lace 
scarf or veil that streamed down 
each side of the pinnacle. Compare 
fontange and commode. 
Lay trains of amorous intrigues 
In tow'rs, and curls, and periwigs. 
S. Butter, Hudibras to his Lady, 
[1. 186. 
7f. A wig or the natural hair 
built up very high. 
Her Tour wou'd keep 
In Curl no longer. 
Etherege, The Man of Mode, ii. 1. 
And Art gives Colour which with Nature vyes 
The well-wove Tours they wear their own are thought 
Congreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love, iii. 
To rise'or extend far upward like a'tower; rise tow-headed (to'hed'ed), a. Having hair resem- 
high or aloft. blln g tow - 
An enormous tulip-tree, which towered like a giant *%?**? ( to . u ' he )> * [So called from its note.] 
The chewink, ground-robin, or marsh-robin of 
the United States, Pipilo erythrophthalmus, or 
.. -CD, *T 
above all the other trees of the neighborhood. 
Iroing, Sketch-Book, p. 447. 
towering, n.); (c) to mount up, as a hawk to be 
able to swoop down on the quarry. 
No marvel, an it like your majesty, 
My lord protector's hawks do tower so well. 
SAa*.,2Hen. VI., il. 1. 10. 
I have tower'd 
For victory like a falcon in the clouds. 
Fletcher (and another), False One, v. 3. 
Il.t trans. To rise aloft into. [Rare.] 
Yet oft they quit 
The dank, and rising on stiff pennons, tower 
The mid-aereal sky. Milton, P. L., vii. 441. 
pilo, and compare tuwhit and tuwhoo. Oregon towhee, 
a black, white, and chestnut towhee bunting, Pipilo mam- 
lotus oregonus, with spotted scapulars. 
to-whilest, conj. [ME., < to-l + while.] While. 
York I'ltiys, p. 3. 
tow-hook (to'huk), n. A tool used by artillery- 
men in unpacking ammunition-chests. 
towindt, ' i. [ME., < to-2 + wiiun.] 1. To 
whirl about; revolve. 
In bis honde 
His myghty spere, as he was wont to nghte, 
He shaketh so that almost it to-wonde. 
Chaucer, Complaint of Mars, 1. 102. 
tower 2 t, n- An obsolete form of tour 2 . 
tower-clock (tou'er-klok), n. A large form of 2 - lo 8 to P^ces. 
clock, adapted for use on public buildings, A1 to P eceB he towond. Sir Ferumbras, 1. 2568. 
church-towers, etc. The works are supported by a towing 1 (to'ing), n. [Verbal n. of tow 1 , v.~\ 1. 
strong framework of metal, and the pendulum-rod is usu- The act or work of drawing anything in tow ; 
Tower Head-dreL-, . 
of William III. 
. . issed through an opening in the floor beneath tht 
clock. 
tower-cress (tou'er-kres), n. A European cru- 
ciferous plant, Arabis Turrita, a tall, stiff, erect 
biennial with pods 3 inches long, all curved 
downward, and turned to one side in a long ra- 
ceme. 
towered (tou'erd), a. [< tower + -erf2.] 1. 
Having or bearingtowers ; adorned or defended 
by towers. Shak., A. and C., iv. 14. 4. 2. In 
also, a charge made or an expense incurred : 
towing a vessel to or from her wharf, etc.; tow- 
age. 2. A sort of dredging done with a tow- 
ing-net dragged over the surface of the water 
for the purpose of procuring specimens of nat- 
ural history; also, the net results of such dredg- 
ing, or the specimens thus procured. 
A collection received from him in June indicates that 
the many rare opportunities afforded him for obtaining 
specimens [in dredging] were not neglected, and the sur- 
-, -i . specimens [in uieuKiiiK] were nut. iiL'KiecLeu, ami me sni- 
fter., having towers or turrets : noting a castle face tmrings he obtained are very rich in interesting forms. 
Smithsonian Xepart, 1887, U. 135. 
-. or a city wall used as a bearing. A tower towered , 
titrating tower, haine , as demtnjicator.- Gabled is a bearing representing a fortified tower, generally round, trrarinffV fto'inc-l n f<f,,,i-3 + ; H ,,n 
tower, ^ejabled- Glover's tower. Same as denn> with turrets rising from its top, the number of which is , g '' L . 
OTtor.-Martello tower, a small circular fort with very usually expressed in the blazon '"'"' '/-, the operation of pickin 
thick Will la mil If l-lliciHtr /in nan ,., , fir.tr, *^ ,,...,. __ 1. J.I. _1 __ f m J . ^ 1.1 __ __J?1-_*_ ^>i __ J.1 ____ 1_ _ ___ 1_ _ _ 
ing to pieces 
_ _ _ 1 
strongly resisted an English naval force in 1794. The effi- 
ciency of this work induced the British authorities to build 
And stretch the dreadful Hector at my feet. towing-bridle (to'mg-brFdl), . An iron rod 
Pope, Iliad, xiii. 113. or piece of stout chain secured at each end to 
ne, the upper serving 
as a casement for the defenders ; the roof is shell-proof, 
llie armament is a single heavy traversing gun. similar 
towers afterward erected by Austria on the coast of the 
All else is towering phrensy and distraction. towmg-bridle. 
Addison, Cato, ii. i. towing-net (to'ing-net), i. A sort of drag-net 
3. In her., same as soarant. or dredge of various sizes, made of strong can- 
