silo

1 of 2

noun

si·​lo ˈsī-(ˌ)lō How to pronounce silo (audio)
plural silos
1
: a trench, pit, or especially a tall cylinder (as of wood or concrete) usually sealed to exclude air and used for making and storing silage
2
a
: a deep bin for storing material (such as coal)
b
: an underground structure for housing a guided missile
These are weapons that can hit military targets, such as missile silos and headquarters, swiftly and accurately …Leslie H. Gelb
3
: an isolated grouping, department, etc., that functions apart from others especially in a way seen as hindering communication and cooperation
Big, complex companies are typically structured so that decision making is separated according to function, geography and product. That naturally creates silos.John H. Howard
Examples of silos in blue-chip firms abound: Sony once had two separate divisions working on creating the same electrical plug without anyone realizing it.Rana Foroohar
To break down silos individual officials need a stronger sense of belonging to a bigger whole, with norms and expectations spanning all departments and agencies.David Walker
Moorhouse came to the paper determined to break down its "silos"—MBA-speak for self-contained departments that don't have anything to do with other departments in a business.Mark Fitzgerald

Illustration of silo

Illustration of silo
  • silo 1

silo

2 of 2

verb

siloed; siloing; siloes

transitive verb

1
: to place or store (material, such as grain) in a silo
2
: to isolate (someone or something, such as a grouping or department) in a way that hinders communication and cooperation with others : to place (someone or something) in an isolated silo (see silo entry 1 sense 3)
One step banks can take to balance efforts, [Emmett] Higdon suggested, is to stop siloing mobile and online banking development efforts and channels.Nathan DiCamillo

Examples of silo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Senior leaders send their teams in the wrong direction, operate in silos and miss the bigger picture. Dr. Tracy Cocivera, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Other Chinese studies made similar arguments for silos, and Mr. Xi and his commanders seemed to heed them. Chris Buckley, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2024 Debates, for all their flaws, are a rare opportunity to get out of those silos and make everyone who pays attention to the news watch and argue about more or less the same thing. Matthew Yglesias, Twin Cities, 31 Jan. 2024 Outside is a toxic hellscape, visible only on big screens in the silo's topmost level. Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 29 Dec. 2023 For the Sentinel, silo work could be underway by lead contractor Northrop Grumman as soon as 2025. Tara Copp, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Dec. 2023 These tools can be ineffective at data aggregation, analysis and insights, creating huge silos of data, so the whole is less than the parts. Anthony Kennedy, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024 The couple pulled into Manning Ag Service, a farming and trucking service, and parked between two monstrously large silos. Robert Samuels, The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2024 The silos, safely distant from U.S. conventional missiles, can hold missiles capable of hitting the United States. Chris Buckley, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2024
Verb
This can be challenging in some environments where there is a tendency for teams to silo themselves away from others, or for companies with a remote or hybrid workforce. Tim Eyre, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024 Modern computers and servers are specifically designed to silo data so multiple users can share the same processing resources without being able to access each others’ data. Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 16 Jan. 2024 Gone was the governor who launched his campaign talking about the value of Bitcoin on a buggy website and proceeded to silo himself in niche forums maintained by professional controversialists. Noah Rothman, National Review, 13 Dec. 2023 Some of the biggest security and privacy benefits on Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are less obvious, though, and relate to how Tensor and Google's additional Titan M2 security chip work to silo and defend sensitive data. Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 27 Oct. 2021 Now Meta and its peers have a legal basis to keep going in Europe without having to silo off their operations there. Bydavid Meyer, Fortune, 10 July 2023 Reactive content marketers silo their content efforts within their department. Joel Goobich, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2021 Instead politically polarized Google users tend to silo themselves by clicking on links to partisan news sites. Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 24 May 2023 Currently, legacy software tends to silo data by product and business segments, utilize batch files rather than real-time data access and is inherently difficult to integrate with other solutions due to excess customization requiring one-to-one integration rather than one-to-many. Mike Sekits, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'silo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Spanish

First Known Use

Noun

1856, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1981, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of silo was in 1856

Dictionary Entries Near silo

Cite this Entry

“Silo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silo. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

silo

noun
si·​lo ˈsī-lō How to pronounce silo (audio)
plural silos
1
: a trench, pit, or especially a tall cylinder (as of wood or concrete) used for making and storing silage
2
: an underground structure for housing a missile

More from Merriam-Webster on silo

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