TORCH
What does "TORCH" mean?
A portable burning light, typically a stick with flammable material at one end.
Meanings
- A handheld light made of a stick or rod set ablaze at one end. The mob marched on the castle with torches and pitchforks.
- A battery-powered handheld electric light; a flashlight. Grab a torch - the power's gone out again. informal
- To set fire to something deliberately. Investigators believe someone torched the warehouse for the insurance. informal
Did you know?
- The Olympic torch relay feels ancient but began only in 1936, designed for the Berlin Games - the ancient Olympics had a sacred flame but no cross-country relay.
Word origin
From Old French 'torche', meaning a twist of straw or a torch, from Vulgar Latin '*torca', from Latin 'torquere', 'to twist' - the original torch being twisted fibers dipped in pitch.
Remember it
A TORCH is twisted - the word shares the 'tor' twist-root with torque and torsion; old torches were twisted fibers dipped in pitch.
A little poem
One twist of pitch against the dark,
passed hand to hand, runner to runner-
the fire outlives the hand that lit it.
tercet
Wordplay
- The arsonist quit the relay race - he kept trying to torch the finish line instead of crossing it.
What it teaches
A flame given away loses nothing; the torch you pass on burns no dimmer for the passing.
Quick facts
What does TORCH mean?
A portable burning light, typically a stick with flammable material at one end.
Is TORCH a valid word?
Yes — TORCH is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is TORCH?
TORCH has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does TORCH come from?
From Old French 'torche', meaning a twist of straw or a torch, from Vulgar Latin '*torca', from Latin 'torquere', 'to twist' - the original torch being twisted fibers dipped in pitch.
What can TORCH teach us?
A flame given away loses nothing; the torch you pass on burns no dimmer for the passing.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.