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   torch

   /tôrCH/

   noun

   • 1. a portable means of illumination such as a piece of wood or cloth soaked in tallow or an oil lamp on a pole, sometimes carried ceremonially. historical Similar firebrandbrandlanterncandletaperhistorical:linkcresset
   • ▪ used to refer to a valuable quality, principle, or cause that needs to be protected and maintained: "mountain warlords carried the torch of Greek independence"
   • ▪ a blowtorch. North American
   • ▪ an arsonist. informal US
   • 2. a portable battery-operated electric lamp; a flashlight. British Similar lamplightflashlightbeaconrare:illuminantflambeau

   verb

   • 1. set fire to: informal "the shops had been looted and torched"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French torche, from Latin torqua, variant of torques ‘necklace, wreath’, from torquere ‘to twist’. The current verb sense was originally US slang and dates from the 1930s.

   Scrabble Points: 10

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