spiry

¹ American  

[spahyuhr-ee] / ˈspaɪər i /

adjective

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

2. abounding in spires or steeples.

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spiry ² American  

[spahy-ree] / ˈspaɪ ri /

adjective

1. spiral; coiled; coiling; helical.

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spiry British  

/ ˈspaɪərɪ /

adjective

1. poetic of spiral form; helical

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Etymology

Origin of spiry¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; spire ¹ + -y ¹

Origin of spiry²

First recorded in 1670–80; spire ² + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Struck on the castled cliff, The venerable tower and spiry fane Resign their aged pride.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol III, No 13, 1851 by Various

Bade the dark woods their solemn shades extend, High to the clouds yon spiry tower ascend?

From The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles Vol. 2 by Gilfillan, George

So trim and tasteful are these silvery, spiry groves one would fancy they must have been placed in position by some master landscape gardener, their regularity seeming almost conventional.

From My First Summer in the Sierra by Muir, John

The excellent Mrs. Motte was present when her fine new house, supposed to be worth six thousand dollars, took fire; and without a sigh, beheld the red spiry billows prevailing over all its grandeur.*

From The Life of General Francis Marion by Weems, M. L. (Mason Locke)

Here, glittering towns their spiry turrets raise, There, bulwarks overhang the shaggy steep.

From The Minstrel; or the Progress of Genius with some other poems by Beattie, James