Bore Meaning
/bɔː(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo inspire boredom in somebody.
verbTo make a hole through something.
Sentence Examples
He bore the future of the company on his shoulders.
How easy would it be to bore a tunnel through it?
The letter bore the president's seal.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The long lecture about taxes began to ____ the entire audience.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I do not want to ____ you with all the tiny details of my long journey.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-der. Proto-Germanic *burōną Proto-West Germanic *borōn Old English borian Middle English boren English bore From Middle English boren, from Old English borian (“to pierce”), from Proto-West Germanic *borōn, from Proto-Germanic *burōną. Compare Danish bore, Norwegian Bokmål bore, Dutch boren, German bohren, Old Norse bora. Cognate with Latin forō (“to bore, to pierce”), Latin feriō (“strike, cut”) and Albanian birë (“hole”). Sense of wearying may come from a figurative use such as "to bore the ears"; compare German drillen.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He bores me with some trick."
— 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 206:
"[…] used to come and bore me at rare intervals."
— 1881, Thomas Carlyle, Reminiscences:
"I'll believe as soon this whole earth may be bored."
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"On June 8, 1872, the London & North Western Railway obtained powers to quadruple its main line, and a new tunnel was bored for the up and down slow lines."
— 1950 September, “Network News: Watford Tunnel, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 641:
"short but very powerful jaws, by means whereof the insect can bore […] a cylindrical passage through the most solid wood"
— 1862, Thaddeus William Harris, A Treatise on Some of the Insects Injurious to Vegetation:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The long lecture about taxes began to ____ the entire audience.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I do not want to ____ you with all the tiny details of my long journey.