silo en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- [ˈsɑe̯.lɐʉ̯] (New-Zealand)
- /ˈsɑe.ləʉ/ (Australia)
- /ˈsaɪloʊ/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ˈsaɪləʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Spanish silo, of unclear origin. See Spanish silo for more.
Meanings
- A vertical building, usually cylindrical, used for the production of silage.
- From the shape, a building used for the storage of grain.
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An underground bunker used to hold missiles which may be launched.
As a rule of thumb, to reliably destroy a hardened missile silo or communications bunker, a one megaton warhead should land within a 600 foot radius of its target. This will ensure that the enemy silo lies within the crater gouged out by the nuclear blast.
1987, Michio Kaku, Daniel Axelrod, To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans, Black Rose Books Ltd., →ISBN, page 203:
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(derogatory, informal) An organizational unit that has poor interaction with other units, negatively affecting overall performance.
"And the mindset of a silo of rail engineers, and a silo of highway engineers, and a silo of bus experts, and a silo of active travel people, you're not going to integrate just because you put them in one organisation. "You have to actively look at ways to cross-fertilise that thinking, to get multi-modal projects hard-wired in. And from our view, I see TfW as a behaviour change organisation.
2024 February 7, Lee Waters tells Conrad Landin, “A mission to improve transport for Wales”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 34:A silo is created when members in one department or function do not interact with those in another department, even though there might be operational benefits to the interaction.
2006, Albert J. Mills, Jean C. Helms Mills, John Bratton, Organizational Behaviour in a Global Context, page 116:Graeme Bickerdike, a member of campaign organisation The HRE Group, told RAIL: "This infilling and demolition programme - costing much more than repair - has been conceived with no thought for its impact beyond the silos where distant, unaccountable officials manage their spreadsheets.
2021 May 5, Tony Streeter, “Network News: Disused structures "assets to be preserved", say MPs”, in RAIL, number 930, page 23:
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(derogatory, informal) A structure in the information system that is poorly networked with other structures, with data exchange hampered.
Our networking is organized in silos, and employees lose time manually transferring data.
- (derogatory, slang) A group of like-minded individuals who are not exposed to outside opinions or input.
- In Microsoft Windows operating systems, a kernel object for isolating groups of threads.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| silos | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| siloes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
desilo · siloization · siloisation · silo bag · silometer · silo truck · bag silo · siloism · sack silo · missile silo · silolike
Synonyms
information silo · echo chamber · granary · grain elevator
Translations (53)
pt silo (vertical building for storing grain) · es silo (vertical building for storing grain) · ckb سایلۆ (vertical building for storing grain) · es silo (underground bunker) · fa سیلو (vertical building for storing grain) · cs silo (underground bunker) · fi siilo (underground bunker) · eo turstokejo (vertical building for storing grain) · hy սիլոս (vertical building for storing grain) · mk силос (vertical building for storing grain) · de Silo (vertical building for storing grain) · ru си́лос (vertical building for storing grain) · ar صَوْمَعَة (vertical building for storing grain) · ko 사일로 (vertical building for storing grain) · tr görür (vertical building for storing grain) · bg силоз (vertical building for storing grain) · ja サイロ (vertical building for storing grain) · eo insilujo (vertical building for storing grain) · bg шахта (underground bunker) · ru си́лосная ба́шня (vertical building for storing grain) · de Raketensilo (underground bunker) · ru элева́тор (vertical building for storing grain) · sh silos (vertical building for storing grain) · eo stokoturo (vertical building for storing grain) · pl silos (vertical building for storing grain) · fi siilo (vertical building for storing grain) · fi viljasiilo (vertical building for storing grain) · id silo (vertical building for storing grain) · sv silo (vertical building for storing grain) · nn silo (vertical building for storing grain) · cmn 筒倉 /筒仓 (vertical building for storing grain) · eo silo (vertical building for storing grain) · mi pātaka pata (vertical building for storing grain) · de Kornspeicher (vertical building for storing grain) · ru зернохрани́лище (vertical building for storing grain) · ru раке́тная ша́хта (underground bunker) · cmn 糧倉 /粮仓 (vertical building for storing grain) · grc σιρός (vertical building for storing grain) · fr silo (vertical building for storing grain) · ru ста́ртовая ша́хта (underground bunker) · rif tasraft (vertical building for storing grain) · it silo (vertical building for storing grain) · ro siloz (vertical building for storing grain) · cmn 發射井 /发射井 (underground bunker) · ca sitja (vertical building for storing grain) · hu siló (vertical building for storing grain) · fr silo (underground bunker) · nb silo (vertical building for storing grain) · gl silo (vertical building for storing grain) · cs silo (vertical building for storing grain) · sh podzemni silos (underground bunker) · ms silo (vertical building for storing grain) · hu rakétasiló (underground bunker)