silo

1 of 2

noun

si·​lo ˈsī-(ˌ)lō 

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

• 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

Almanac was born to break down the silos, both literally and figuratively. —Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

There’s Juliette’s story, and then there’s back in her home silo, Silo 18, with Bernard (Tim Robbins) and Simms (Common) and her friends down in Mechanical — Knox and Shirley and Walker. —Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 4 Nov. 2024

Verb

One of the most interesting choices made by Lisa and Ben was to silo the data gathered from customers at the organizer level. —Eric Fuller, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2024

Then there’s the fact that platforms like TikTok tend to silo users based on interests. —Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 26 June 2024

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

Kids Definition

silo

noun

si·​lo ˈsī-lō 

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