bore

1
[ bawr ]
See synonyms for: boreboredboring on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),bored, bor·ing.
  1. to weary by dullness or sameness: The long speech bored me.

noun
  1. a dull, tiresome, or uncongenial person: He's such a bore that I'd rather stay home than go out with him.

  2. a cause of inconvenience or petty annoyance: The job has a lot of repetitive tasks that are a bore to do.

Origin of bore

1
First recorded in 1760–70; of uncertain origin

Other words for bore

Opposites for bore

Words that may be confused with bore

Words Nearby bore

Other definitions for bore (2 of 4)

bore2
[ bawr ]

verb (used with object),bored, bor·ing.
  1. to pierce (a solid substance) with some rotary cutting instrument.

  2. to make (a hole) by drilling with such an instrument.

  1. to form, make, or construct (a tunnel, mine, well, passage, etc.) by hollowing out, cutting through, or removing a core of material: to bore a tunnel through the Alps;to bore an oil well 3,000 feet deep.

  2. Machinery. to enlarge (a hole) to a precise diameter with a cutting tool within the hole, by rotating either the tool or the work.

  3. to force (an opening), as through a crowd, by persistent forward thrusting (usually followed by through or into); to force or make (a passage).

verb (used without object),bored, bor·ing.
  1. to make a hole in a solid substance with a rotary cutting instrument.

  2. Machinery. to enlarge a hole to a precise diameter.

  1. (of a substance) to admit of being bored: Certain types of steel do not bore well.

noun
  1. a hole made or enlarged by boring.

  2. the inside diameter of a hole, tube, or hollow cylindrical or conical object or device, such as a bushing or bearing, engine cylinder, musical wind instrument, or barrel of a gun.

Origin of bore

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English bor(i)en, Old English borian; cognate with Old High German borōn, German bohren, Old Norse bora, Latin forāre

Other words for bore

Other words from bore

  • bore·a·ble, bor·a·ble, adjective

Other definitions for bore (3 of 4)

bore3
[ bawr, bohr ]

noun
  1. an abrupt rise of tidal water moving rapidly inland from the mouth of an estuary.

Origin of bore

3
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English bare “a wave, billow,” from Old Norse bāra
  • Also called tidal bore .

Other definitions for bore (4 of 4)

bore4
[ bawr, bohr ]

verb
  1. simple past tense of bear1.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bore in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bore (1 of 4)

bore1

/ (bɔː) /


verb
  1. to produce (a hole) in (a material) by use of a drill, auger, or other cutting tool

  2. to increase the diameter of (a hole), as by an internal turning operation on a lathe or similar machine

  1. (tr) to produce (a hole in the ground, tunnel, mine shaft, etc) by digging, drilling, cutting, etc

  2. (intr) informal (of a horse or athlete in a race) to push other competitors, esp in order to try to get them out of the way

noun
  1. a hole or tunnel in the ground, esp one drilled in search of minerals, oil, etc

    • a circular hole in a material produced by drilling, turning, or drawing

    • the diameter of such a hole

    • the hollow part of a tube or cylinder, esp of a gun barrel

    • the diameter of such a hollow part; calibre

  1. Australian an artesian well

Origin of bore

1
Old English borian; related to Old Norse bora, Old High German borōn to bore, Latin forāre to pierce, Greek pharos ploughing, phárunx pharynx

British Dictionary definitions for bore (2 of 4)

bore2

/ (bɔː) /


verb
  1. (tr) to tire or make weary by being dull, repetitious, or uninteresting

noun
  1. a dull, repetitious, or uninteresting person, activity, or state

Origin of bore

2
C18: of unknown origin

Derived forms of bore

  • bored, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for bore (3 of 4)

bore3

/ (bɔː) /


noun
  1. a high steep-fronted wave moving up a narrow estuary, caused by the tide

Origin of bore

3
C17: from Old Norse bāra wave, billow

British Dictionary definitions for bore (4 of 4)

bore4

/ (bɔː) /


verb
  1. the past tense of bear 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for bore

bore

[ bôr ]


  1. In fluid mechanics, a jump in the level of moving water, generally propagating in the opposite direction to the current. Strong ocean tides can cause bores to propagate up rivers.

    • The white, shallow portion of a wave after it breaks. The bore carries ocean water onto the beach.

    • A tidal wave caused by the surge of a flood tide upstream in a narrowing estuary or by colliding tidal currents.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.