torch

CEFRB1

/ˈtɔːt͡ʃ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A portable battery-powered electric light used by hand.

  2. 02

    noun

    A burning stick carried as a source of light.

Examples

  • She shone her torch onto the floor before us.

  • Stan has always carried a torch for Liz.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈtʰoːt͡ʃ]
  • /ˈtoːtʃ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A stick of wood or plant fibres twisted together, with one end soaked in a flammable substance such as resin or tallow and set on fire, which is held in the hand, put into a wall bracket, or stuck into the ground, and used chiefly as a light source.

  2. A similarly shaped implement with a replaceable supply of flammable material; specifically, a pole with a lamp at one end.

  3. A flower which is red or red-orange in colour like a flame.

More examples

In context

  • Ernst slipped and dropped his torch on the flagstones, shattering the bulb and plunging us into darkness.

  • Some hoodlums had torched a derelict automobile, which emitted a ghastly pall of thick, black smoke that filled the street.

  • The mob of angry villagers carried torches and pitchforks to the vampire’s castle.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The ancient Greeks used a burning blank to light the sacred fire.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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 ma...