n. [ OE. towaille, towail, F. touaille, LL. toacula, of Teutonic origin; cf. OHG. dwahila, swahilla, G. zwehle, fr. OHG. dwahan to wash; akin to D. dwaal a towel, AS. þweán to wash, OS. thwahan, Icel. þvā, Sw. två, Dan. toe, Goth. þwahan. Cf. Doily. ] A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, as the person after a bath. [ 1913 Webster ]

Towel gourd (Bot.), the fruit of the cucurbitaceous plant Luffa Aegyptiaca; also, the plant itself. The fruit is very fibrous, and, when separated from its rind and seeds, is used as a sponge or towel. Called also Egyptian bath sponge, and dishcloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To beat with a stick. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Cloth for towels, especially such as is woven in long pieces to be cut at will, as distinguished from that woven in towel lengths with borders, etc. [ Written also towelling. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. towered p. pr. & vb. n. towering. ] To rise and overtop other objects; to be lofty or very high; hence, to soar. [ 1913 Webster ]

On the other side an high rock towered still. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

My lord protector's hawks do tower so well. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To soar into. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. tour, tor, tur, F. tour, L. turris; akin to Gr. &unr_;; cf. W. twr a tower, Ir. tor a castle, Gael. torr a tower, castle. Cf. Tor, Turret. ] 1. (Arch.) (a) A mass of building standing alone and insulated, usually higher than its diameter, but when of great size not always of that proportion. (b) A projection from a line of wall, as a fortification, for purposes of defense, as a flanker, either or the same height as the curtain wall or higher. (c) A structure appended to a larger edifice for a special purpose, as for a belfry, and then usually high in proportion to its width and to the height of the rest of the edifice; as, a church tower. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. Ps. lxi. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A headdress of a high or towerlike form, fashionable about the end of the seventeenth century and until 1715; also, any high headdress. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lay trains of amorous intrigues
In towers, and curls, and periwigs. Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. High flight; elevation. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gay Lussac's tower (Chem.), a large tower or chamber used in the sulphuric acid process, to absorb (by means of concentrated acid) the spent nitrous fumes that they may be returned to the Glover's tower to be reemployed. See Sulphuric acid, under Sulphuric, and Glover's tower, below. --
Glover's tower (Chem.), a large tower or chamber used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, to condense the crude acid and to deliver concentrated acid charged with nitrous fumes. These fumes, as a catalytic, effect the conversion of sulphurous to sulphuric acid. See Sulphuric acid, under Sulphuric, and Gay Lussac's tower, above. --
Round tower. See under Round, a. --
Shot tower. See under Shot. --
Tower bastion (Fort.), a bastion of masonry, often with chambers beneath, built at an angle of the interior polygon of some works. --
Tower mustard (Bot.), the cruciferous plant Arabis perfoliata. --
Tower of London, a collection of buildings in the eastern part of London, formerly containing a state prison, and now used as an arsenal and repository of various objects of public interest. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Adorned or defended by towers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Towered cities please us then. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, extreme; violent; surpassing. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man agitated by a towering passion. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having towers; adorned or defended by towers. [ R. ] “Towery cities.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]