torso
Americannoun
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the trunk of the human body.
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a sculptured form representing the trunk of a nude female or male figure.
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something mutilated or incomplete.
noun
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the trunk of the human body
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a statue of a nude human trunk, esp without the head or limbs
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something regarded as incomplete or truncated
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
But in September 1936, Ness was assigned to the Torso Killer case, to much local fanfare.
From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2022
Hosting both the World’s Fair and the Republican National Convention in 1936, the city pressured Ness to focus on stopping the Torso Killer.
From New York Times • Sep. 6, 2022
Torso bent slightly over the table where she’s just finishing putting away the dishes, the young woman cocks her ear toward the window as if straining to overhear the astounding disclosure.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2019
“You know, there’s not many ways in which one takes seriously the end of Rilke’s ‘Archaic Torso of Apollo,’ ” Sacks said.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 18, 2019
Torso swiveled to the left and leaning forward.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
