v. i. | 1. | To breathe. |
n. | 1. | A slender stalk or blade in vegetation; as, a spire grass or of wheat. |
| 2. | (Arch.) A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself. |
| 3. | (Mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting. |
| 4. | The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit. |
v. i. | 1. | To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire. |
n. | 1. | A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist. |
| 2. | (Geom.) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n. |