▪ I. tore, n.1 Sc.
(tor)
Also 6, 9 tor, 7 torre, 8 torr.
[Origin uncertain: Welsh torr belly, bulge, boss, knob, has been compared.]
† 1. An ornamental knob upon a piece of furniture, as a chair or a cradle. Obs.
| 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 55 Betuix thame twa, the Creddill ouir thay cast, With boddum vp, and on the Toris it stude..That the four Toris sauit the Childis face. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. iv. Wks. 1848 II. 404 The Quene..wes placeit in the chyre, haifing twa faithfull supportis, the Maister of Maxwell upoun the ane tor, and Secretour Lethingtoun on the uther tor of the chyre. a 1825 Balankin xi. in Child Ballads iv. (1886) 323/2 Till all the tores of the cradle wi the red blood down ran. |
2. The pommel of a saddle. rare or Obs.
| a 1671 Sir A. Balfour Lett. ii. (1700) 33 To Carry one..in a Carpet Bag..tyed to the Tore of my Saddle. 1751 in Burton Crim. Trials Scot. (1852) I. 62 Placing her body across the horse upon the torr or forepart of the saddle. 1828 Thomas o' Yonderdale in Whitelaw Scot. Ball. (1874) 147/1 On the tor o' her saddle A courtly bird did sweetly sing. |
▪ II. tore, n.2
(tɔə(r))
[a. F. tore, ad. L. torus.]
1. Arch. See quot. 1704; = torus 1.
| 1664 Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit., etc. i. vii. 24 He thinks fit to deck the Tore's with I know not what delicate foliages. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Tore, and Torus..is that round Ring which encompasses in the Column, between the Plinth, and the List. This is the third Member of the Base of a Column. 1723 Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Treat. Archit. I. 66 The preceding Orders..have two Tores. 1850 T. Inkersley Roman. & Pointed Archit. in France 182 A central tore flanked by a smaller parallel one. |
2. Geom. = torus 4.
| 1867 Tait Quaternions ix. §322 An immediate proof of the very singular property of the ring (or tore) discovered by Villarceau. 1890 Eagles Descript. Geom. 248 This surface is known as a tore or anchor ring. |
▪ III. tore, n.3 local.
(tɔə(r))
Also toar (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
[Origin unascertained.]
Long coarse grass remaining in the field in winter or spring. Also attrib.
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 234 Which you must proportion according to the quantity of Rowen or Tore that you have upon the Ground; The more Tore you have, the less quantity of Hay will do. Ibid., When your Tore is quite eaten up, which it will commonly be about February, you must house your Milch-Cows, that you give Hay to in your Cow-house all Night. 1766 Compl. Farmer, Tore, rowen, or winter-grass. 1836 Sir G. Head Home Tour 253, I found fields over-run with coarse tore grass, in many parts blotchy and covered with thistles. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. from Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire. |
▪ IV. tore
pa. tense and obs. and dial. pa. pple. of tear v.1
▪ V. tore, a.
Obs.: see tor a.