control tower

noun

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

control tower

noun

1. a tower at an airport from which air traffic is controlled

Word History and Origins

Origin of control tower¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

It wasn’t much—a control tower and a six-thousand-foot runway, mobile homes, and a mess hall.

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A large drone flew past the control tower and settled onto its landing platform on the roof of a lower building.

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McDermott said ServiceNow’s AI tools are resonating because they integrate well with the big cloud providers, large language models and data sources, functioning as a “control tower” of sorts for business initiatives.

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Hollywood Burbank Airport’s air traffic control tower was temporarily unstaffed due to shortages earlier this month, with outgoing flights delayed an average of two hours and 31 minutes, and 12 flights were canceled.

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The latest shortfall happened Wednesday afternoon when not enough workers showed up at Reagan Washington National Airport’s air-traffic control tower, prompting delays in the nation’s capital.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal