torch

(tôrch)

a. A portable light produced by the flame of a stick of resinous wood or of a flammable material wound about the end of a stick of wood; a flambeau.

b. Chiefly British A flashlight.

2. Something that serves to illuminate, enlighten, or guide.

3. Slang An arsonist.

4. A portable apparatus that produces a very hot flame by the combustion of gases, used in welding and construction.

5. Longstanding unrequited romantic feelings for a person: My torch for her has finally gone out.

tr.v. torched, torch·ing, torch·es Slang

To cause to burn or undergo combustion, especially with extraordinary rapidity, force, or thoroughness.

Idioms:

carry a torch

To have longstanding feelings of love that are not requited: still carrying the torch for a man she knew in her twenties.

put to the torch

To destroy by fire; burn down.

[Middle English torche, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *torca, alteration of Latin torqua, variant of torquēs, torque, from Latin torquēre, to twist; see terk^w- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

torch

(tɔːtʃ)

1. (Electronics) a small portable electric lamp powered by one or more dry batteries. US and Canadian word: flashlight

2. a wooden or tow shaft dipped in wax or tallow and set alight

3. anything regarded as a source of enlightenment, guidance, etc: the torch of evangelism.

4. (Tools) any apparatus that burns with a hot flame for welding, brazing, or soldering

5. carry a torch for to be in love with, esp unrequitedly

6. put to the torch to set fire to; burn down: the looted monastery was put to the torch.

(tr) slang to set fire to, esp deliberately as an act of arson

[C13: from Old French torche handful of twisted straw, from Vulgar Latin torca (unattested), from Latin torquēre to twist]

ˈtorchˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

torch

(tɔrtʃ)

n.

1. a light, usu. carried in the hand, consisting of a stick of resinous wood, tallow-soaked flax, or some other flammable substance, ignited at the upper end.

2. something considered as a source of illumination, enlightenment, or guidance: the torch of learning.

3. any of various lamplike devices producing a hot flame, used for soldering, burning off paint, etc.

4. Slang. an arsonist.

5. Chiefly Brit. flashlight (def. 1).

v.t.

6. to subject to the flame or light of a torch.

7. to set fire to, esp. maliciously.

Idioms:

carry a or the torch for, to be in love with, esp. without being loved in return.

[1250–1300; Middle English torche (n.) < Old French < Vulgar Latin *torca a twist of straw, something twisted. See torque¹]

torch′a•ble, adj.

torch′like`, adj.

torch

funeral - Once was a torchlight procession, from Latin funis, "torch"—because funerals of the Romans took place at night by torchlight.
kindle - The verb is related to Old Norse kyndill, "candle, torch."
Drummond light - A torch that burns calcium oxide (lime) and gives off intense white light, it was named for Scottish engineer Capt. Thomas Drummond, R.E. (1797-1840), who invented it around 1825.
torch - From Latin torquere, it first referred to tarred twists of frayed rope.

torch

flashlight

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	torch - a light usually carried in the hand; consists of some flammable substance flambeau - a flaming torch (such as are used in processions at night) light source, light - any device serving as a source of illumination; "he stopped the car and turned off the lights"
	2.	torch - tall-stalked very woolly mullein with densely packed yellow flowers; ancient Greeks and Romans dipped the stalks in tallow for funeral torches Aaron's rod, common mullein, flannel mullein, great mullein, Verbascum thapsus, woolly mullein flannel leaf, mullein, velvet plant - any of various plants of the genus Verbascum having large usually woolly leaves and terminal spikes of yellow or white or purplish flowers
	3.	torch - a small portable battery-powered electric lamp flashlight electric lamp - a lamp powered by electricity flashlight battery - a small dry battery containing dry cells; used to power flashlights penlight - a small flashlight resembling a fountain pen
	4.	torch - a burner that mixes air and gas to produce a very hot flame blowlamp, blowtorch burner - an apparatus for burning fuel (or refuse); "a diesel engine is an oil burner" oxyacetylene torch - a blowtorch that burns oxyacetylene
Verb	1.	torch - burn maliciously, as by arson; "The madman torched the barns" burn, burn down, fire - destroy by fire; "They burned the house and his diaries"

torch

noun

1. flashlight, light, lamp, beacon She shone a torch over the terrified faces.

2. firebrand, brand, taper, flaming stick They lit a torch and set fire to the chapel's thatch.

verb set fire to, burn, ignite, set on fire, kindle, set alight, incinerate, destroy by fire, set light to, reduce to ashes, put a match to The rioters torched the local library.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

torch

verb

Slang. To cause to burn or undergo combustion:

enkindle, fire, ignite, kindle, light.

Idioms: set afire, set fire to.

Translations

شُعْلَهقِنْديلكَشَّافٌ كَهْرَبائِيّ

baterkapochodeň

fakkellommelygte

Fackel Taschenlampe anzünden

δάδα πυρσός φακός

antorcha linterna

مشعل

taskulamppusoihtu

torche flambeau lampe de poche incendier

bakljadžepna lampa

fáklyazseblámpaelemlámpa

obor

kyndillvasaljós

torcia fiaccola fiaccolata incendiare

懐中電灯

손전등

faxtaeda

deglasfakelas

lāpalukturītis

zaklamp fakkel toorts

fakkel lommelykt

pochodnia latarka

lanterna lanterna de mão tocha

факел фонарик

baterkapochodeň

baklažepna svetilka

бакља

ficklampablossfackla

ไฟฉาย

el feneri meşale

đèn pin

手电筒火把

torch

[tɔːtʃ]

A. N

1. (flaming) → antorcha f, tea f
to carry the torch of democracy/progress (fig) → mantener viva la llama de la democracia/del progreso
to carry a torch for sb → estar enamorado de algn

2. (Brit) (electric) → linterna f

3. (Tech) (also blow torch) → soplete m

B. VT (= set fire to) [+ building, vehicle] → prender fuego a, incendiar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

torch

[ˈtɔː^rtʃ] n

(British) (electric) → lampe f de poche

(= flame) → torche f
like a torch → comme une torche
The house went up like a torch → La maison s'est embrasée comme une torche.
a human torch → une torche vivante
to carry a torch for sb (fig) → en pincer pour qn

torch

n (lit, fig) → Fackel f; (Brit: = flashlight) → Taschenlampe f; (= blowlamp) → Schweißbrenner m; the torch of learning → die Fackel der Wissenschaft; to carry a torch for somebody → nach jdm schmachten; to carry the torch of or for something → ein eifriger Verfechter einer Sache (gen) → sein

vt (= to set fire to) → anstecken, anzünden

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

torch

[tɔːtʃ] n (Brit) (electric) → torcia elettrica, lampadina tascabile; (flaming) → torcia, fiaccola
to carry a torch for sb (fig) → essere innamorato/a cotto/a di qn

torch

(toːtʃ) noun

1. (American ˈflashlight) a small portable light worked by an electric battery. He shone his torch into her face.

2. a piece of wood etc set on fire and carried as a light.

torch

→ كَشَّافٌ كَهْرَبائِيّ baterka fakkel Taschenlampe φακός linterna taskulamppu torche džepna lampa torcia 懐中電灯 손전등 zaklamp lommelykt pochodnia lanterna de mão факел ficklampa ไฟฉาย el feneri đèn pin 手电筒

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"Here is that which will give us light," said Galazi, and one man of every two took a torch and lit it at a fire that burned near the mouth of the cave.

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A burning torch lay on the ground near the first man whom the mule had thrown, by the light of which Don Quixote perceived him, and coming up to him he presented the point of the lance to his face, calling on him to yield himself prisoner, or else he would kill him; to which the prostrate man replied, "I am prisoner enough as it is; I cannot stir, for one of my legs is broken: I entreat you, if you be a Christian gentleman, not to kill me, which will be committing grave sacrilege, for I am a licentiate and I hold first orders."

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Part way around I found a tiny radium flash torch, and as I examined it in mild curiosity as to its presence there in this almost inaccessible and unknown spot, I came suddenly upon the insignia of the house of Thurid jewel-inset in its metal case.

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It came from a torch in the hand of one of a party of four green warriors, who were coming rapidly down the corridor toward me.

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He shouted Borckman to come aft and haul in the whaleboat, while he hurried below for his electric torch and a boat compass.

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It was that handy invention, the electric torch, fitted by Raffles with a dark hood to fulfil the functions of a slide.

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Then a torch was brought, and the wood, heavily soaked with oil, instantly took fire.

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As the Palmer, lighted by a domestic with a torch, past through the intricate combination of apartments of this large and irregular mansion, the cupbearer coming behind him whispered in his ear, that if he had no objection to a cup of good mead in his apartment, there were many domestics in that family who would gladly hear the news he had brought from the Holy Land, and particularly that which concerned the Knight of Ivanhoe.

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We must test it." But a torch one of the Indians threw in burned with a steady glow.

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Then a gigantic hand issued from the shade, and fastened on the throat of the captain, who uttered a stifle rattle; his stretched-out arms beating the air, the torch fell and was extinguished in blood.

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All you have to do is wear a red shirt and a helmet, and carry a torch.

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The matter indeed looked sufficiently serious, for, coming to the place whence the cries had proceeded, he descried the figure of a man extended in an apparently lifeless state upon the pathway, and, hovering round him, another person with a torch in his hand, which he waved in the air with a wild impatience, redoubling meanwhile those cries for help which had brought the locksmith to the spot.

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