control tower

American

noun

a glass-enclosed, elevated structure for the visual observation and control of the air and ground traffic at an airport.

control tower British

noun

a tower at an airport from which air traffic is controlled

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of control tower

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

control tower

He maintains that ServiceNow is fundamentally different because it is a platform company, acting as a control tower astride legacy systems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

To the Editor: Do you trust an artificial-intelligence software tool to decide which products to launch or which expenses to cut—like a control tower?

From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026

In audio from the air traffic control tower at LaGuardia, a staff member can be heard saying: "'Truck One, stop, stop, stop!" in the seconds before the crash.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026

In audio from the control tower at the time of the crash, an air traffic controller can be heard urgently asking the truck to come to a stop.

From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026

There are two or possibly three other men up in the cockpit, negotiating with the control tower over the radio.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023