Skip to main content
church tower

church tower

1 2.1
A tall part of a church that often has bells
  • noun
translation icon : torre de la iglesia
  • This was not the monotone tolling of the single bell in the Methodist church tower back in East Vassalboro.

The bell in the church tower rang and rang all day for Bobby.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Once he went up to the top of the church tower and, for a bit of small change, was shown the enormous bells that rang down into his room on Sundays.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • But now they probably control most of the town, including the church tower.

  • I smoked, staring at the church tower, behind which the sun had already set.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • There was a church tower on the left and I can't see it anymore.

  • The bell in the church tower rang and rang all day for Bobby.

  • Then there was a new sound from a church tower, the sudden tolling of a bell echoing through the streets.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The skyline of Prague in nineteenth-century Czech fiction is usually depicted as a suggestive row of church towers.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The church tower's bells sounded beautifully during the wedding ceremony.

  • As we walked through the village, the tall church tower was the first thing we noticed.

  • The view from the top of the church tower was breathtaking and offered a glimpse of the whole town.

Synonyms

tower
vschurch tower
547 1.0

A tall, narrow thing that looks like a building

is part of a religious building used to hold bells rather than any tall structure
steeple
vschurch tower
16 4.9

A tall, narrow tower on a church that ends in a point

is mainly about holding bells inside a religious building rather than having a pointed top
bell tower
vschurch tower
8 3.3

A tall structure, often part of a church or public building, that holds bells

is specifically part of a religious building rather than any public structure
belfry
vschurch tower
6 8.1

A tower or high part of a building where bells are kept and rung, often in a church

is a tall structural part of a religious building rather than only a bell space
campanile
vschurch tower
1 9.9

A tall bell tower near a church or standing alone

is usually part of a religious building rather than freestanding nearby

How Tall

campanile
1 9.9
steeple
16 4.9
church tower
1 2.1
belfry
6 8.1
bell cote
  • UK
9.9

Surface Forms

church tower singular
church towers plural

Morphology

church + tower

The meaning 'the tall structure that is part of a church' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'church' (a building for Christian worship) with 'tower' (a tall vertical structure). This simple noun+noun composition follows common compounding patterns found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Church tower The noun church tower comes from the tall tower built on a church, often holding 'bells' and giving a high place to look out. That's why church tower means the tall part of a church building you can see from far away and where 'bells' were used to 'call people' to services.