torrent
Americannoun
adjective
noun
-
a fast, voluminous, or violent stream of water or other liquid
-
an overwhelming flow of thoughts, words, sound, etc
-
computing a file that controls the transfer of data in a BitTorrent system See BitTorrent
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of torrent
1595–1605; < Latin torrent- (stem of torrēns ) seething, literally, burning, present participle of torrēre to burn, parch; see torrid, -ent
Explanation
A torrent is a heavy rain, or the flooding or wildly-running streams it causes, like the torrent that soaks everyone unlucky enough to be out on the street at that moment. Because the noun torrent literally means "rushing stream," it often describes fast-flowing water, like a rainstorm or creeks and rivers that overflow their banks. But the word can also describe any sudden inundation, like a deluge of words or thoughts, like when, in anger, you unleash a torrent of emotional words on your friend. Like a violent storm, you pour those words, not letting up in order to let him or her explain the other side of the story.
Vocabulary lists containing torrent
A Long Walk to Water
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List 5
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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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.
See Examples For:
His extended absence from filmmaking was necessitated by Adrian’s death in 2016 and the monumental torrent of confusion and emotional displacement that followed.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
My muscles were tensing at the torrent of oversharing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The artificial-intelligence boom could see a hiccup, along with the torrent of capital spending that has kept deals flowing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
A reservoir wall broke in Nanning in China, sending out a torrent of water after rivers swelled from the passage of a typhoon.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Then words came in a torrent, and she lost him.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Spanish police published footage of flooded fields and torrents of water that were engulfing buildings and vehicles.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
But on the Italians’ opening night, the torrents of rain short-circuited TV monitors and panelists struggled to give their presentations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
Videos on social media have emerged showing torrents of muddy water sweeping through the towns of La Ràpita and Santa Bàrbara in the Tarragona province, and moving everything in their path.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
On the one hand, this is a place that is known to be dangerous—part of Texas’ Flash Flood Alley, where big storms, dry ground, and hilly terrain routinely combine to turn riverbeds into deadly torrents.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2025
Sweat gushed from his neck in torrents and poured down over his chest and waist with the feeling of warm slime.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
