silo

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A usually tall cylindrical structure, typically next to a barn, in which silage is produced and stored.
• noun Any of several other structures or containers used for the same purpose, such as a covered trench or a polyethylene bag.
• noun An underground shelter for a missile, usually equipped to launch the missile or to raise it into a launching position.
• transitive verb To store in a silo.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To preserve in a silo; make silage or ensilage of.
• noun The pit silo has, in America, largely given way to above-ground structures of brick or stone or, commonly, of wood, these being found cheaper, equally effective, and more convenient except on hillsides. The wooden silo was at first rectangular, but for greater strength and to avoid the spoiling of silage in the corners a round form has been largely adopted. Round wooden silos are walled either with staves (see stave silo), or with studding lined and sheathed with boards or inside lathed and plastered with cement. The foundation in either case is of stone laid in cement. The superstructure may be sunk a short distance into the ground. Rectangular (and square) silos (preferred inside a rectangular building) are built with studding. All above-ground silos require doors, which are placed one above another and are often covered with an external shoot down which the silage falls as it is taken out. Outdoor silos usually require a roof with provision for ventilation.
• noun A pit or chamber in the ground, or a cavity in a rock, or more rarely a warm air-tight structure above ground, for the storing of green crops for future use as fodder in the state called ensilage.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A pit or vat for packing away green fodder for winter use so as to exclude air and outside moisture. See ensilage.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun agriculture A vertical building, usually circular, used for the storage of grain.
• noun military An underground bunker used to hold missiles which may be launched.
• noun pejorative, management An organizational unit that has poor interaction with other units, negatively affecting overall performance.
• noun pejorative, informatics A structure in the information system that is poorly networked with other structures, with data exchange hampered.
• verb transitive To store in a silo.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun military installation consisting of an underground structure where ballistic missiles can be stored and fired
• noun a cylindrical tower used for storing silage