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tori

[tawr-ahy, tohr-ahy]
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noun
  1. plural of torus.
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torus

[tawr-uh s, tohr-]
noun, plural to·ri [tawr-ahy, tohr-ahy] /ˈtɔr aɪ, ˈtoʊr aɪ/.
  1. Architecture. a large convex molding, more or less semicircular in profile, commonly forming the lowest molding of the base of a column, directly above the plinth, sometimes occurring as one of a pair separated by a scotia and fillets. and column.
  2. Geometry.
    1. a doughnut-shaped surface generated by the revolution of a conic, especially a circle, about an exterior line lying in its plane.
    2. the solid enclosed by such a surface.
  3. Botany.
    1. the receptacle of a flower.
    2. a thickening of the wall membrane in the bordered pits occurring in the tracheid cells of the wood of many conifers.
  4. Anatomy. a rounded ridge; a protuberant part.
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Origin of torus

1555–65; < Latin: literally, strand, thong, raised ridge
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tori

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Wakare no tori, the bird which warns lovers of the approach of day.

  • "I do think that these be lying tidings," said Tori the priest of Ludford.

    Star of Mercia

    Blanche Devereux

  • In the Ainu language Pira means "a cliff," and Tori "a residence."

    Alone with the Hairy Ainu

    A. H. Savage Landor

British Dictionary definitions for tori

tori

noun
  1. the plural of torus
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torus

noun plural -ri (-raɪ)
  1. Also called: tore a large convex moulding approximately semicircular in cross section, esp one used on the base of a classical column
  2. geometry a ring-shaped surface generated by rotating a circle about a coplanar line that does not intersect the circle. Area: 4π² Rr; volume: 2π² Rr ², where r is the radius of the circle and R is the distance from the line to the centre of the circle
  3. botany another name for receptacle (def. 2)
  4. anatomy a ridge, fold, or similar linear elevation
  5. astronomy a dense ring of gas and dust which surrounds a dying star, containing most of the star's ejected gas
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Word Origin

C16: from Latin: a swelling, of obscure origin
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

Word Origin and History for tori

Tori

fem. proper name, short for Victoria.

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torus

n.

1560s, from Latin torus "a swelling, bulge, knot; cushion, couch."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tori in Medicine

torus

(tôr′əs)
n. pl. to•ri (tôr′ī)
  1. A bulging or rounded projection or swelling, such as is caused by a bone or muscle.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
tori in Science

torus

[tôr′əs]
Plural tori (tôr′ī)
  1. A surface generated by rotating a circle about an axis that is in the same plane as the circle but does not intersect it. A torus resembles a donut and is a subtype of toroid.
  2. The torus-shaped apparatus that contains plasma in nuclear fusion reactors.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.