boring
1 Americanadjective
noun
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Machinery.
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the act or process of making or enlarging a hole.
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the hole so made.
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Geology. a cylindrical sample of earth strata obtained by boring a vertical hole.
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borings, the chips, fragments, or dust produced in boring.
noun
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the act or process of making or enlarging a hole
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the hole made in this way
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(often plural) a fragment, particle, chip, etc, produced during boring
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of boring1
First recorded in 1835–45; bore 1 + -ing 2
Origin of boring2
Explanation
As an adjective boring describes something (or someone) that is tedious, dull, and lacking in interest. As a noun, boring refers to the act of drilling a hole, or the hole itself. When a geologist's powerful drill makes a boring into the earth, you can remove a sample and learn about the history of our planet just by seeing what's contained in the boring's layers. Of course, if you aren't interested in that kind of thing, you might find a two-hour lecture on the subject a bit boring.
Vocabulary lists containing boring
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An additional 60 were registered by other companies in the Musk empire, namely xAI, Neuralink and the Boring Co.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
Estimates of Musk’s wealth vary, largely depending on how his private companies—which also include Neuralink and the Boring Co.—are valued.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
Musk has previously mused about a broader tie-up of his companies, once describing a holding company for Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and Boring Co. as a “good idea” several years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026
In addition to SpaceX, xAI and Tesla, Musk has leadership roles at the Boring Company, a tunneling company, and Neuralink, which is developing brain-chip interfaces.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 29, 2026
It was like the Boring Room made Mom not-Mom.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
