torch
1- a light to be carried in the hand, consisting of some combustible substance, as resinous wood, or of twisted flax or the like soaked with tallow or other flammable substance, ignited at the upper end.
- something considered as a source of illumination, enlightenment, guidance, etc.: the torch of learning.
- any of various lamplike devices that produce a hot flame and are used for soldering, burning off paint, etc.
- Slang. an arsonist.
- Chiefly British. flashlight(def 1).
- to burn or flare up like a torch.
- to subject to the flame or light of a torch, as in order to burn, sear, solder, or illuminate.
- Slang. to set fire to maliciously, especially in order to collect insurance.
- carry the/a torch for, Slang. to be in love with, especially to suffer from unrequited love for: He still carries a torch for his ex-wife.
Origin of torch
1torch
2- to point (the joints between roofing slates) with a mixture of lime and hair.
Origin of torch
2Examples from the Web for torch
Contemporary Examples of torch
Thankfully, my father took up the torch and left no doubt that we were looked after.
It feels like someone is chopping up my legs with a machete or burning them with a torch from the inside out.
After an image-invigorating tenure as U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton will pass the torch to Sen. John Kerry on Friday.
China carried the torch: Under Mao Tse-tung, “the Chinese people were doing well.”
Clarence House today released a video of Prince Harry speaking about the start of the Paralympics torch relay.
Historical Examples of torch
The prize was bestowed on him who ran the course without extinguishing his torch.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Dorothea was holding a torch, the liquid droppings of which fell upon her hands.
The DreamEmile Zola
His torch will be at the threshold and his knife at the throat of the planter.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
It was the torch of a fisherman—one of those eyes of the South of which Artois had thought.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
The cabman bought a torch from a passer-by, and stuck it in his whip-barrel.
A Son of HagarSir Hall Caine
torch
- a small portable electric lamp powered by one or more dry batteriesUS and Canadian word: flashlight
- a wooden or tow shaft dipped in wax or tallow and set alight
- anything regarded as a source of enlightenment, guidance, etcthe torch of evangelism
- any apparatus that burns with a hot flame for welding, brazing, or soldering
- carry a torch for to be in love with, esp unrequitedly
- put to the torch to set fire to; burn downthe looted monastery was put to the torch
- (tr) slang to set fire to, esp deliberately as an act of arson
Word Origin for torch
Word Origin and History for torch
late 13c., from Old French torche, originally "twisted thing," hence "torch formed of twisted tow dipped in wax," probably from Vulgar Latin *torca, alteration of Late Latin torqua, variant of classical Latin torques "collar of twisted metal," from torquere "to twist" (see thwart). In Britain, also applied to the battery-driven version (in U.S., flashlight). Torch song is 1927 ("My Melancholy Baby," performed by Tommy Lyman, is said to have been the first so called), from carry a torch "suffer an unrequited love" (also 1927), an obscure notion from Broadway slang.
"set fire to," 1931, from torch (n.). Related: Torched; torching.
Idioms and Phrases with torch
torch
see carry a torch; pass the torch.