English
silo
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ˈsaɪloʊ/
Noun

silo (plural silos)

  1. (agriculture) A vertical building, usually cylindrical, used for the production of silage.
  2. (agriculture) from the shape, a building used for the storage of grain.
    Synonyms: granary, grain elevator
  3. (military) An underground bunker used to hold missiles which may be launched.
    • 1987, Michio Kaku, Daniel Axelrod, To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans, Black Rose Books Ltd. (ISBN 9780921689065), page 203 ↗:
      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.
  4. (pejorative, management) An organizational unit that has poor interaction with other units, negatively affecting overall performance.
    • 2006, Albert J. Mills, Jean C. Helms Mills, John Bratton, Organizational Behaviour in a Global Context, Page 116
      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.
  5. (pejorative, informatics) 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.
  6. (pejorative, slang) A self-enclosed group of like-minded individuals.
Translations Translations Verb

silo (silos, present participle siloing; past and past participle siloed)

  1. (transitive) To store in a silo.
    Synonyms: ensile


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