silo

American  

[sahy-loh] / ˈsaɪ loʊ /

noun

silos plural

1. a structure, typically cylindrical, in which fodder or forage is kept.

   The dairy farm's two biggest buildings were the barn and the silo full of feed for the cows.

2. a pit or underground space for storing grain, green feeds, etc.

3. Military. an underground installation constructed of concrete and steel, designed to house a ballistic missile and the equipment for firing it.

4. a group, unit, enterprise, etc., that is isolated from others or functions independently, typically viewed as not deriving the benefits of interrelationships or collaboration.

   Fundraising department silos happen when different teams don't share their ideas and plans.

5.  information silo.   data silo.  Computers. an unintegrated data repository that cannot share its stored data with other systems, subsystems, or applications.

   When an organization deploys a stand-alone solution to improve operations, it risks creating a data silo that may present difficulties when trying to scale throughout the enterprise.

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verb (used with object)

siloed, siloing

1. to put into or preserve in a silo, as fodder, grain, or missiles.

2. to separate or isolate (a group, unit, enterprise, etc.) from others.

   We Americans are now more sheltered and siloed in our sources of news than ever before.

silo British  

/ ˈsaɪləʊ /

noun

1. a pit, trench, horizontal container, or tower, often cylindrical in shape, in which silage is made and stored

2. a strengthened underground position in which missile systems are sited for protection against attack

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• silos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of silo

First recorded in 1825–35; from Spanish: “place for storing grain, hay, etc.,” originally, “subterranean”; further origin uncertain

Explanation

A silo is a cylindrical tower used for bulk storage, like grain silos that stand tall near farms. Another kind of silo is harder to see — military silos are underground. Farming and war are pretty different, but they both involve silos. You may have seen a silo if you've ever visited a farm. A silo is a tall tower with a cylindrical (rounded) shape. The silo holds anything the farmer needs to store in bulk, especially feed for the animals. Other, non-farm silos hold material such as cement or coal. The military type of silo holds something more dangerous: missiles. These silos store the missiles underground until they’re fired.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silo silos siloed siloing

But those timings mean he cannot get the cereal straight to a local silo because they are not open then.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Salesforce’s customer relationship management data only represent an isolated silo of its customers’ total footprint, Goldberg said.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

They live in a silo for two, sharing their pain, icing their scars.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

This tension, he said, was compounded by subsequent U.S. intelligence reports alleging that widespread corruption had rendered some of these missiles nonfunctional—including claims of defective silo lids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

And then all that was left was that tin roof, halfway covering the gaping entrance of the silo.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older

The microfame experienced by influencers whose days are spent in algorithmic silos is fragile.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

Palantir’s solutions unite data silos within organizations to create a centralized platform for AI agents.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Where regional authorities have banned harvesting between 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm, some silos are now opening overnight.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

The imposing grain silos at Beirut’s port mostly withstood last year’s massive explosion — but now serve as reminders of negligence and destruction.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

It didn't look much like a factory—no towering steel silos or smokestacks billowing carbon monoxide, just a few buildings that vaguely reminded him of airplane hangars.

From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green

The company is addressing an age-old problem in enterprise technology: the multitude of siloed systems and data sources that don’t communicate with one another in a fluid way.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

She said the changes might be more subtle and gradual, depending on if the narrower data inputs of the "siloed" US version can match the app's global reach.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025

It is often said that film directors are siloed off from one another, that they don’t get to watch how others work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025

The initial decision by engineer Breton to invest in Palantir came as a result of his job as a technical expert at a manufacturing company, where he often dealt with unorganized and siloed data.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 25, 2025

When the refuse has been siloed for eight months, and 12 per cent. of the animal's weight is used, there will follow a slight daily increase in weight.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 832, December 12, 1891 by Various

"One thing we often talk about is not siloing HIV and exceptionalising it," he said.

From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2024

I’ve noticed this siloing rising in my own life — especially since my family’s run through Seattle public schools ended during the pandemic.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2023

Holistic defense involves more collaboration within defense teams, rather than a strict siloing of roles.

From Slate ● May 1, 2023

But it can be more advantageous than siloing ourselves off from others.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2023

Since the early 2000s, Piper has refused to let her work be included in all-Black shows, arguing that such siloing further marginalizes Black artists.

From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2022

Related Words

• cellar
• granary
• storehouse