bore
UK /bɔː/ · US /boɹ/ verb, noun, proper noun
Also a form of bear
- verb (transitive) To inspire boredom in somebody. “to bore someone to death”
- verb (transitive) To make a hole through something.
- verb (intransitive) To make a hole with, or as if with, a boring instrument; to cut a circular hole by the rotary motion of a tool. “to bore for water or oil”
- verb (transitive) To form or enlarge (something) by means of a boring instrument or apparatus. “to bore a steam cylinder or a gun barrel; to bore a hole”
- verb (transitive) To make (a passage) by laborious effort, as in boring; to force a narrow and difficult passage through. “to bore one’s way through a crowd”
- verb (intransitive) To be pierced or penetrated by an instrument that cuts as it turns. “This timber does not bore well.”
- verb (intransitive) To glare (as if to drill a hole with the eyes). “Their eyes bore into my back.”
- verb (transitive, sports, slang) To push or drive (a boxer into the ropes, a boat out of its course, etc.).
- noun A hole drilled, bored, or milled through something. “the bore of a cannon”
- noun (Australia) A borehole sunk into an artesian basin to provide a source of water.
- noun The diameter of such a hole.
- noun (especially) The diameter of a cylinder in a piston engine or compressor. “The bore times the stroke times the number of cylinders equals displacement.”
- noun The tunnel inside of a gun's barrel through which the bullet travels when fired, or (by extension) its diameter.
- noun A tool, such as an auger, for making a hole by boring.
- noun A capped well drilled to tap artesian water.
- noun The place where such a well exists.
- noun A sudden and rapid flow of tide occurring in certain rivers and estuaries which rolls up as a wave.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
artesian bore artesian well banality snooze snoozer eagre tidal bore dullard aegir eager gauge caliber calibre bore-hole drill hole tire drill
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English boren, from Old English borian (“to pierce”), from Proto-West Germanic *borōn, from Proto-Germanic *burōną.
Compare Danish bore, Norwegian Bokmål bore, Dutch boren, German bohren, Old Norse bora. Cognate with Latin forō (“to bore, to pierce”), Latin feriō (“strike, cut”) and Albanian birë (“hole”). Sense of wearying may come from a figurative use such as "to bore the ears"; compare German drillen.
From Middle English *bore, bare, a borrowing from Old Norse bára (“billow, wave”), from Proto-Germanic *bērō (“that which bears or carries”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear”). Cognate with Icelandic bára (“billow, wave”), Faroese bára (“billow, wave”). Doublet of bier.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To perforate or penetrate, as a solid body, by turning an auger, gimlet, drill, or other instrument; to make a round hole in or through; to pierce; as, to bore a plank.
- verb To form or enlarge by means of a boring instrument or apparatus; as, to bore a steam cylinder or a gun barrel; to bore a hole.
- verb To make a hole or perforation with, or as with, a boring instrument; to cut a circular hole by the rotary motion of a tool; as, to bore for water or oil (i. e., to sink a well by boring for water or oil); to bore with a gimlet; to bore into a tree (as insects).
- verb To be pierced or penetrated by an instrument that cuts as it turns; as, this timber does not bore well, or is hard to bore.
Etymology [OE. borien, AS. borian; akin to Icel. bora, Dan. bore, D. boren, OHG. por, G. bohren, L. forare, Gr. to plow, Zend bar. sq. root91.]
Etymology [Icel. bara wave: cf. G. empor upwards, OHG. bor height, burren to lift, perh. allied to AS. beran, E. 1st bear. sq. root92.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bore”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details