torch
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɔːtʃ/
ipa: /tɔɹt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tʃ
Forms: form: torches
form: torching
form: torched
form: torched
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English torch, torche (“large candle; lighted stick; (figurative) sunbeam”), from Old French torche, torque (“torch; bundle of (twisted) straw”) (modern French torche); further etymology uncertain, probably from Vulgar Latin *torca (“coiled object”) (referring to a torch made from twisted plant fibres dipped in a flammable substance such as pitch), from Latin torqua, a variant of torquis (“collar of twisted metal, torque; wreath”), from torqueō (“to twist, wind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
Sense 2.3 (Verbascum thapsus) is either due to the plant’s spike of yellow flowers, or because its leaves and stalks were used to make torches (noun sense 1). Sense 3.2 (“precious cause, etc., which needs to be protected and transmitted to others”) is derived from Latin lampada trādere, from Ancient Greek λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι (lămpắdă părădidónai, “to hand over the torch”), a reference to the torch race held at various festivals such as the Panathenaic Games in Ancient Greece, which involved a relay where a torch was passed from one runner to another.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: glosses: To illuminate or provide (a place) with torches (noun sense 1).
examples: text: Some hoodlums had torched a derelict automobile, which emitted a ghastly pall of thick, black smoke that filled the street.
synonyms: word: burn
word: ignite
word: inflame
word: set ablaze
word: alight
word: conflagrate
word: fire
word: fire up
word: ignite
word: inflame
word: kindle
word: light
word: light up
word: set ablaze
word: set afire
word: set aflame
word: set alight
word: set fire
word: set on fire
word: torch
hyponyms: firebomb
glosses: To intentionally destroy (something) by setting it on fire, especially when committing arson in furtherance of some other criminal act (e.g. insurance fraud or the destruction of evidence).
examples: text: That influencer torched the company’s PR department.
synonyms: word: burn
word: malign
word: assassinate
word: asperse
word: backbite
word: badmouth
word: belibel
word: belittle
word: besmirch
word: blaze
word: blemish
word: blot
word: calumniate
word: calumny
word: cloud
word: cut down
word: defame
word: demonize
word: denigrate
word: derogate
word: detract
word: discredit
word: disgrace
word: disparage
word: diss
word: forgab
word: infamize
word: lampoon
word: libel
word: malign
word: monster
word: reproach
word: revile
word: scandal
word: shit-talk
word: slag
word: slander
word: spatter
word: speak ill of
word: stab
word: talk shit
word: talk shite
word: talk trash
word: torch
word: traduce
word: trash-talk
word: vilify
word: vilipend
word: vituperate
glosses: To make damaging claims about (someone or something); to ruin the reputation of (someone or something); to disparage, to insult.
examples: text: The flames torched up twenty feet in the air.
synonyms: word: combust
word: go up
word: burn
word: combust
word: forburn
word: go up
word: outburn
word: torch
glosses: Of a fire: to burn.
topics: literature
media
publishing
science-fiction
glosses: To travel in a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (“an engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).
synonyms: blaze up
flare up
glosses: To (appear to) flare up like a torch.
topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: To catch fish or other aquatic animals by torchlight; to go torch-fishing.
Derived terms: torchable
torch down
torcher
torch up