Definitions for torch
tɔrtʃtorch

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. torchnoun

   a light usually carried in the hand; consists of some flammable substance

2. common mullein, great mullein, Aaron's rod, flannel mullein, woolly mullein, torch, Verbascum thapsusnoun

   tall-stalked very woolly mullein with densely packed yellow flowers; ancient Greeks and Romans dipped the stalks in tallow for funeral torches

3. flashlight, torchnoun

   a small portable battery-powered electric lamp

4. blowtorch, torch, blowlampverb

   a burner that mixes air and gas to produce a very hot flame

5. torchverb

   burn maliciously, as by arson

   "The madman torched the barns"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. torchnoun

   A stick with a flame on one end used as a light source.

   The mob of angry villagers carried torches and pitchforks to the vampire's castle.

   Etymology: From torche, ultimately from torqueo.

2. torchnoun

   A portable source of electric light.

   Ernst slipped and dropped his torch on the flagstones, shattering the bulb and plunging us into darkness.

   Etymology: From torche, ultimately from torqueo.

3. torchverb

   To set fire to, especially using a torch (1) above.

   Some hoodlums had torched a derelict automobile, which emitted a ghastly pall of thick, black smoke that filled the street.

   Etymology: From torche, ultimately from torqueo.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Torchnoun

   a light or luminary formed of some combustible substance, as of resinous wood; a large candle or flambeau, or a lamp giving a large, flaring flame

2. Torchnoun

   a flashlight

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Torch

   A torch is a fire source, usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other flammable material wrapped around one end. Torches were often supported in sconces by brackets high up on walls, to throw light over corridors in stone structures such as castles or crypts. This traditional use of the word lives on in the Olympic Torch, procession torches and the like. A torch carried in relay by cross-country runners is used to light the Olympic flame which burns without interruption until the end of the Games. These torches and relay tradition were introduced in 1936 Summer Olympics by Carl Diem, the chairman of the event because during the duration of the Ancient Olympic Games in Olympia, a sacred flame burns inside of the temple of Hera, kept in custody by her priestess. If a torch is made of sulfur mixed with lime, the fire will not diminish after being plunged into water. Such torches were used by the ancient Romans. Procession torches are made from coarse hessian rolled into a tube and soaked in wax. There is usually a wooden handle and a cardboard collar to deflect any wax droplets. They are an easy, safe and relatively cheap way to hold a flame aloft in a parade, or to provide illumination in any after-dark celebration.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Torch

   torch, n. a light formed of twisted tow dipped in pitch or other inflammable material: a large candle or flambeau.—ns. Torch′-bear′er; Torch′-dance; Torch′er (Shak.), one who gives light with, or as with, a torch; Torch′ing, a way of catching fish at night with torch-light-and spear; Torch′-light; Torch′-race.—n.pl. Torch′-staves (Shak.), staves for carrying torches. [Fr. torche—L. tortum, pa.p. of torquēre, to twist.]

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. torch

   Song lyrics by torch -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by torch on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Burn
   • Electric Lamp
   • Light
   • Mullein

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'torch' in Nouns Frequency: #2741

How to pronounce torch?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say torch in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of torch in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of torch in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of torch in a Sentence

1. Gerald Ford:

   America now is stumbling through the darkness of hatred and divisiveness. Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and democratic people will give us a torch to light the way. And we will survive and become the strongernot only because of a patriotism that stands for love of country, but a patriotism that stands for love of people.

2. Dawna Markova:

   I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible; to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance, to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.

3. Ben Sweetland:

   We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.

4. John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

   Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today, at home and around the world

5. Rachel Kyte:

   You can't give birth safely if the midwife is holding a torch between her teeth.

Images & Illustrations of torch

Popularity rank by frequency of use