torrent

& a. [Fr., from Lat. torrentem, acc us, of torrens =(a.) hot, boiling, raging, impetuous; (s.) a torrent, a raging stream, orig. pr. par. of torreo to parch, dry up; Sp., Port. & Ital. tor rente.] A. As substantive: IMG:content-1252.png:[blocks in formation] Phys. Geog.: That space or broad belt of the earth included between the tropics, over every part of which the sun is vertical at some period, twice every year (being always so at the equator), and where the heat is always great.