torch
To illuminate or provide with torchesTo illuminate or provide (a place) with torches (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).
Recorded: Commander Keane, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Tom was carrying a torch.
Tom hatte eine Taschenlampe in der Hand. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Tom trug eine Fackel. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Том ніс факел. — deniko
Том ніс ліхтарик. — deniko
Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
8 senses(transitive)To illuminate or provide (a place) with torches (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).
(informal, transitive)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).
Some hoodlums had torched a derelict automobile, which emitted a ghastly pall of thick, black smoke that filled the street.
anzünden
(figuratively, transitive)To make damaging claims about (someone or something); to ruin the reputation of (someone or something); to disparage, to insult.
That influencer torched the company’s PR department.
(intransitive)Of a fire: to burn.
The flames torched up twenty feet in the air.
burn maliciously, as by arson
(intransitive)To travel in a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (“an engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).
(UK, dialectal, figuratively, intransitive)To (appear to) flare up like a torch.
(US, intransitive)To catch fish or other aquatic animals by torchlight; to go torch-fishing.
(archaic, historical, transitive)To point (“fill up and bring to a smooth finish”) (inside joints of slates laid on laths) using lime hair mortar.
Examples
113 sentencesTom was carrying a torch.
Том ніс факел. — deniko
deTom hatte eine Taschenlampe in der Hand. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Tom is carrying a torch.
Tom forgot to bring a torch.
Том забув взяти ліхтарик. — deniko
Take the torch—that we'll definitely need.
Візьми ліхтарик, він нам обов'язково стане в пригоді. — deniko
deNimm die Taschenlampe. Die werden wir auf jeden Fall brauchen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Go find a torch in the attic.
Йди знайди ліхтарик на горищі. — deniko
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
The noun is derived from Middle English torch, torche (“large candle; lighted stick; (figuThe 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”).
Borrowed from French torcher (“to daub; to wipe; to build or plaster with clay mixed with chopped straw”), from torche (“bundle of (twisted) straw; torch”) (see further at etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming the infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
torches, torching, torched, torchedPhrasal verbs
2 phrasal verbsSynonyms
86 synonymsWord family
5 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.