spiry

[ spahyuhr-ee ]

/ ˈspaɪər i /

Save This Word!

adjective

having the form of a spire, slender shoot, or tapering pointed body; tapering up to a point like a spire.

abounding in spires or steeples.

QUIZ

GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!

Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.

Question 1 of 9

Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of spiry

First recorded in 1595–1605; spire¹ + -y¹

Words nearby spiry

spirt, spirula, spirulina, spiruroid, Spiruroidea, spiry, spissatus, spissitude, spit, spital, spit and polish

Other definitions for spiry (2 of 2)

spiry²

[ spahy-ree ]

/ ˈspaɪ ri /

adjective

spiral; coiled; coiling; helical.

Origin of spiry

First recorded in 1670–80; spire² + -y¹

How to use spiry in a sentence

But the group oi spires, without it, would not be rich enough to give a proper impression of Lausanne, as a spiry place.
Modern Painters, Volume V (of 5)|John Ruskin
Of such spiry or spire-shaped trees, the Firs or Spruces are characteristic and familiar examples.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray
The grass-plot was full of romantic light, and on its eastern margin was an etching of spiry spruce.
Wild Life on the Rockies|Enos A. Mills
Beneath these spiry, crowding trees one has only "the twilight of the forest noon."
Wild Life on the Rockies|Enos A. Mills

Their clumpy heads blend ill with the spiry tops of the juniors.
Woodland Gleanings|Charles Tilt

British Dictionary definitions for spiry

spiry

/ (ˈspaɪərɪ) /

adjective

poetic of spiral form; helical

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