often attributive
1
: a burning stick of resinous wood or twist of tow used to give light and usually carried in the hand : flambeau
2
: something (such as tradition, wisdom, or knowledge) likened to a torch as giving light or guidance
pass the torch to the next generation
3
: any of various portable devices for emitting an unusually hot flame compare blowtorch
4
chiefly British
: flashlight sense 1
torched; torching; torches
: to set fire to with or as if with a torch
Examples of torch in a Sentence
Noun
several suspicious fires in the past few months have probably been set by the same torch
Verb
An arsonist torched the building.
police suspect that the owner torched the house for the insurance money
Recent Examples on the Web
Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Oct. 2025
Advertisement If Earth is ultimately doomed—if the sun will begin to incinerate us in about a billion years—Mars wouldn’t do as a safe harbor, since that planet would be put to the torch as well.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 22 Oct. 2025
Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 20 Oct. 2025
The Chargers have been torched on the ground in each of the past three games, too.
—Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torch
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Noun
Pediatric doctor Morgan Quinn (Roden) and the Bills' VP of Stadium Development Gabe DeLuca (Daddario) have been lifelong friends, but Gabe has always held a torch for her – a fact obvious to their families (Pollan, Aaron, Schirripa, Murin)… and everyone else who crosses their path.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Oct. 2025
Advertisement If Earth is ultimately doomed—if the sun will begin to incinerate us in about a billion years—Mars wouldn’t do as a safe harbor, since that planet would be put to the torch as well.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
When the Dragon Bravo Fire torched the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in mid-July while the White Sage Fire spread further north, politicians immediately jumped to assign blame.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 20 Oct. 2025
The Chargers have been torched on the ground in each of the past three games, too.
—Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torch
Cite this Entry
“Torch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torch. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
TORCH
noun
: a group of pathological agents that cause similar symptoms in newborns and that include especially a toxoplasma (Toxoplasma gonii), cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and the togavirus causing German measles
Etymology
Noun
toxoplasma, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus
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