TOWER OF BABEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Tower of Babel mean? 

• TOWER OF BABEL (noun)
  The noun TOWER OF BABEL has 1 sense:

1. (Genesis 11:1-11) a tower built by Noah's descendants (probably in Babylon) who intended it to reach up to heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand one another

  Familiarity information: TOWER OF BABEL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TOWER OF BABEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(Genesis 11:1-11) a tower built by Noah's descendants (probably in Babylon) who intended it to reach up to heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand one another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

Babel; Tower of Babel

Instance hypernyms:

ziggurat; zikkurat; zikurat (a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians)

Domain category:

Book of Genesis; Genesis (the first book of the Old Testament: tells of Creation; Adam and Eve; the Fall of Man; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; God's covenant with Abraham; Abraham and Isaac; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothers)

Holonyms ("Tower of Babel" is a part of...):

Babylon (the chief city of ancient Mesopotamia and capital of the ancient kingdom of Babylonia)

 Context examples 

This stone was thrown at the sainted Stephen, and the other two are from the Tower of Babel.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In an office that might have been on the ground-floor of the Tower of Babel, it was so massively constructed, we were presented to our old schoolmaster; who was one of a group, composed of two or three of the busier sort of magistrates, and some visitors they had brought.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)