torch

¹

[tawrch]

noun

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.

2. something considered as a source of illumination, enlightenment, guidance, etc..

   the torch of learning.

3. any of various lamplike devices that produce a hot flame and are used for soldering, burning off paint, etc.

4. Slang.,  an arsonist.

5. Chiefly British.,  flashlight.

verb (used without object)

1. to burn or flare up like a torch.

verb (used with object)

1. to subject to the flame or light of a torch, as in order to burn, sear, solder, or illuminate.

2. Slang.,  to set fire to maliciously, especially in order to collect insurance.

torch

²

[tawrch]

verb (used with object)

1. Masonry.,  to point (the joints between roofing slates) with a mixture of lime and hair.

torch

/ tɔːtʃ /

noun

1. US and Canadian word: flashlight. a small portable electric lamp powered by one or more dry batteries

2. a wooden or tow shaft dipped in wax or tallow and set alight

3. anything regarded as a source of enlightenment, guidance, etc

   the torch of evangelism

4. any apparatus that burns with a hot flame for welding, brazing, or soldering

5. to be in love with, esp unrequitedly

6. to set fire to; burn down

   the looted monastery was put to the torch

verb

1. slang,  (tr) to set fire to, esp deliberately as an act of arson

Other Word Forms

• torchable adjective
• torchless adjective
• torchlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of torch¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun torch(e), from Old French torche, torque, from Vulgar Latin torca (unattested) “something twisted”; torque

Origin of torch²

First recorded in 1850–60; from French torcher “to plaster with a mixture of clay and chopped straw,” derivative of torche “a twist of straw”; torch ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of torch¹

C13: from Old French torche handful of twisted straw, from Vulgar Latin torca (unattested), from Latin torquēre to twist

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. carry the / a torch for, to be in love with, especially to suffer from unrequited love for.

   He still carries a torch for his ex-wife.

see carry a torch; pass the torch.

Example Sentences

Taliban forces pulled the bus over, forced everyone out and torched it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Four people, including one policeman, have died in sporadic unrest, while on Monday, an independent electoral commission building was torched.

Read more on Barron's

Gunmen fired on a vehicle in Pakistan's northwestern border region, killing a pro-government militia leader and five others before torching their bodies, an official told AFP on Thursday.

Read more on Barron's

After clearing swaths of torched aloe plants, he trenched in about 500 native plants that he said “will look spectacular in a few years.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For two days during what is now called “the Summer of Hate,” white nationalists and neo-Nazis carrying tiki torches, swastikas and Confederate flags filled the streets.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• beacon 
• lamp 
• lantern