control tower
5
3.1
- noun
- /kənˈtroʊl ˈtaʊər/
- Specialized
:
torre de control
- The pilot communicated with the control tower to receive instructions before landing.
- traffic control tower
- airport control tower
- air traffic control tower
Examples
-
NASA's "Future Flight Central," the world's first full-scale virtual airport control tower, opened in 1999 at NASA Ames Research Center, California.
Blog text (15) -
We hear the radio chatter between the cockpit and the control tower as final run-up tests are performed.
Fiction book (1996) -
Is he in the control tower with you?
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Just outside the Times Square station, he gets a red signal and a call from the master control tower.
Fiction book (1997) -
The dog watches him go, then charges across the field toward the control tower.
Fiction book (1990) -
We move up to the control tower balcony.
Fiction book (1990) -
They're calling control tower for permission to land!
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Operators in the control tower are on duty twenty-four hours a day.
Fiction book (1996) -
Mr Trudeau, there are FAA regulations... ..regarding unauthorized personnel in the control tower!
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The two Iadarans were waiting at the airfield, just outside the entrance to the control tower in the fitful shade of a canvas awning.
Fiction book (1990)
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound meaning is directly derivable from combining 'control' (ability to direct) and 'tower' (a high central structure): a central place that directs or oversees operations, which matches everyday uses like an airport control tower. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'torre de control', French 'tour de contrôle'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the intended sense.
Etymology
Control tower comes from the tall tower at an airport where people can see all the runways and 'control' the planes. From that high place they watch traffic and give orders to pilots, so the name shows its job.