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Tower vs Pylon - What's the difference?

tower | pylon |

As nouns the difference between tower and pylon

is that tower is a structure, usually taller than it is wide, often used as a lookout, usually unsupported by guy-wires while pylon is a gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.

As a verb tower

is to be very tall.

tower

English

(wikipedia tower)

Alternative forms

* (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) torr, from (etyl) turris. Probably influenced by Welsh .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A structure, usually taller than it is wide, often used as a lookout, usually unsupported by guy-wires.
    • From the top of the tower we could see far off into the distance.
  • (figuratively) Any item, such as a computer case, that is usually higher than it is wide.
  • (informal) An interlocking tower.
  • (figurative) A strong refuge; a defence.
  • * Bible, Psalms lxi. 3
    • Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
  • (historical) A tall fashionable headdress.
  • * Hudibras
    • Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers , and curls, and periwigs.
  • (obsolete) High flight; elevation.
    • (Johnson)
  • The sixteenth trump or Major Arcana card in many decks, deemed an ill omen.
    • Synonyms
    * donjon
    Derived terms
    * control tower * guardtower * interlocking tower * radio tower * siege tower * tower of Babel * towers of Hanoi * tower of strength * watchtower * water tower

    See also

    * * mast

    Verb

  • To be very tall.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Revenge of the nerds , passage=Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.}}
  • To be high or lofty; to soar.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • My lord protector's hawks do tower so well.
  • (obsolete) To soar into.
    • (Milton)

    Derived terms

    * tower over

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who tows.
  • * 1933 , Henry Sturmey, ?H. Walter Staner, The Autocar
    • But as the tower and towee reached the cross-roads again, another car, negligently driven, came round the corner, hit the Morris, and severed the tow rope, sending the unfortunate car back again into the shop window

    Anagrams

    *

    pylon

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
  • A tower-like structure, usually one of a series, used to support high-voltage electricity cables.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=7 citation , passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
  • (aviation)  A structure used to mount engines, missiles etc., to the underside of an aircraft wing or fuselage.
  • An obelisk.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
    • , author= , title=The Washington Monument , volume=100, issue=1, page=16 , magazine= citation , passage=The Washington Monument is often described as an obelisk, and sometimes even as a “true obelisk,” even though it is not. A true obelisk is a monolith, a pylon formed out of a single piece of stone.}}
  • A traffic cone.
  • (American football)  An orange marker designating one of the four corners of the end zone in American football.