torch: [13] A torch is etymologically something ‘twisted’. The word comes via Old French torche from Vulgar Latin *torca, which was derived from the Latin verb torquēre ‘twist’ (source also of English torment, torture, etc). The notion underlying the word is of pieces of straw or similar material ‘twisted’ together and then dipped in some inflammable material. That is what it still denotes in American English, but in British English it has been reapplied to a battery-driven alternative to this. => torment, torque, torture
torch (n.)
mid-13c., from Old French torche "torch," also "handful of straw" (for wiping or cleaning, hence French torcher "to wipe, wipe down"), originally "twisted thing," then "torch formed of twisted tow dipped in wax," probably from Vulgar Latin *torca, alteration of Late Latin torqua, from Latin torquere "to twist" (see torque (n.)).
In Britain, also applied to the battery-driven version (in U.S., a flashlight). To pass the torch is an ancient metaphor from the Greek torch-races (lampadedromia) where the goal was to reach the finish line with the torch still burning. Torch-bearer "leader of a cause" is from 1530s. Torch song is 1927 ("My Melancholy Baby," performed by Tommy Lyman, is said to have been the first so called), from carry a torch "suffer an unrequited love" (also 1927), Broadway slang, but the sense is obscure.
torch (v.)
1819, "illuminate with a torch," from torch (n.). Meaning "set fire to" is from 1931. Related: Torched; torching.
双语例句
1. I was perished. No jacket, no torch, wet through, exhausted.
我快冻僵了。没有外衣，没有火把，浑身湿透了，筋疲力尽。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Pete's torch picked out the dim figures of Bob and Chang.
皮特的火把映出了鲍勃和张的模糊身影。
来自柯林斯例句
3. One of the men shone a torch in his face.
其中一名男子用火把照着他的脸。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He has always carried a torch for Barbara.
他一直单恋芭芭拉。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Shine the torch on the lock while I try to get the key in.