See Also: Theromorpha(medicine)

torch (iou) and Theromorpha (medicine)


torch (iou)



torch noun & verb. ME.
[Old & mod. French torche from Proto-Romance, from Latin torqua var. of torques necklace, wreath, from torquere twist.]
A. noun.
A portable hand-held light or lamp; spec. (a) a piece of wood, cloth, etc., soaked in tallow or Other flammable substance and lit for illumination; (b) a small battery-powered electric lamp (also electric torch). ME.
W. Styron Torches made of..stakes and rags soaked in..turpentine. P. D. James Follow the jerking moon of her torch's beam.
b. Any portable appliance which burns with a concentrated intense flame used for welding, stripping paint, etc.; spec. (chiefly N. Amer.) a blowlamp. E20.
c. An arsonist. US slang. M20.
The great mullein, Verbascum thapsus, so called from its tall spike of yellow flowers. Usu. in pl. M16.
fig. A source of heat, illumination, enlightenment, etc. M17.
Bosworth Smith The torch of Greek learning and civilization was to be extinguished.
Phrases: carry a torch for, hold a torch for feel (esp. unrequited) love for. hand on the torch, pass on the torch pass on a tradition, learning, etc. put to the torch destroy by burning. take up the torch continue a tradition, take up a worthy cause.
Comb.: torch-bearer a person carrying a torch in a ceremony, demonstration, etc.; fig. a person giving guidance or enlightenment; torch-carrying the harbouring of (esp. unrequited) love; torch-fish a deep-sea angler-fish of the family Linophrynidae, having a luminous bulb on the first dorsal spine, above the eye; torch-fishing fishing by torchlight at night; torch-flower any of several plants bearing bright red or yellow flowers on a tall stem, suggesting a torch; esp. = torch-lily below; torch-holder (a) a torch-bearer; (b) a bracket or Other device for supporting a torch; torch lily the red-hot Poker (plants of the genus Kniphofia); torch-man (a) a torch-bearer; (b) slang an arsonist; torch-race Greek History a race held at certain festivals, in which the runners carried lighted torches; torch singer a singer of torch songs; torch singing the singing of torch songs; torch song a popular song of unrequited love; torch-thistle any of several treelike cacti of the genus Cereus (or formerly included in it), used by American Indians as torches; torchwood (a) resinous wood suitable for making torches; (b) any of several trees of the genus Amyris of the rue family, having resinous wood, esp. A. balsamifera, of the W. Indies and Florida.
b. verb.
verb intrans. Flare like a torch; catch fire. dial. M19.
verb intrans. Catch fish etc. by torchlight. N. Amer. L19.
verb trans. Set alight, set fire to; destroy by fire. slang. M20.
M. Amis Half way through the..coffee I torched a cigarette. New Yorker He had torched his office to collect on the insurance.
torched adjective provided with or illuminated by a torch or torches E19.
torcher noun (a) rare a torch-bearer; (b) US slang a torch singer: E17.
torchless adjective E19.
torchy adjective (a) rare full of torches; (b) colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a torch song or torch singer: E17.

Theromorpha (medicine)


theromorpha
<paleontology> See Theriodonta.

Origin: NL., Gr. Beast + form.

Source: Websters Dictionary