torso
Americannoun
plural
torsos, torsi-
the trunk of the human body.
-
a sculptured form representing the trunk of a nude female or male figure.
-
something mutilated or incomplete.
noun
-
the trunk of the human body
-
a statue of a nude human trunk, esp without the head or limbs
-
something regarded as incomplete or truncated
Etymology
Origin of torso
1715–25; < Italian: stalk, trunk of statue < Latin thyrsus < Greek thýrsos wand, stem
Explanation
A torso is the trunk of a human body — minus arms, legs, and head. Anatomically, your torso's job is to protect your internal organs, like your heart, lungs, and kidney, which are all protected by your rib cage. A statue of a torso in a museum, usually ancient Greek or Roman, is that of the trunk of a human body. These works of art, often carved from marble, are so old that they've frequently lost their arms and heads — but still, the sturdy torso remains. Originally torso only referred to the trunk of a statue, from the Greek root thyrsos, "stalk or stem of a plant." Then, around the 1860s, it began referring human trunks as well.
Vocabulary lists containing torso
The Crossover
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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"A Rose for Emily"
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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.
Turkey is now seeking the repatriation of other antiquities taken during the Ottoman era: an ancient marble torso called the "Old Fisherman" from Berlin, and dozens of Iznik tiles held at France's Louvre museum.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
“I’m sorry about my ugly appearance,” a preteen Kaley said in a YouTube video played in court Thursday morning, urgently repeating, “I look so fat,” while panning the camera over her slender torso.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
"When we got there we saw what looked like a log of wood and that transpired to be a torso, which had stayed exactly where it had gone in. Which was quite remarkable."
From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026
The Atlas robot, shown at a Las Vegas trade show in January, can twist its head, torso and joints 360 degrees—and replace its own batteries at a charging station.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026
He held up a red-and-black-striped flannel to his torso and looked in the mirror on his closet door.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
