torque (tork)

[Also torc; = It. torque = torc, 6393 Here was not scorching and blistering, but a vehement and full torrefaction. Bp. Hall, Sermons, xxxviii. torrefy (tor'e-fi), v. t.; pret. and pp. torrefied, ppr. torrefying. [Also torrify; = F. torréfier = It. * torrefare, Things become, by a sooty or fuliginous matter proceeding from the sulphur of bodies, torrified . Sir T. Browne , Vulg. Err., vi. 12. Quain , Med. Dict., p. 354. Bread toasted hard or torrefied . .. Simply torrified and bruised, they [seeds of Theobroma Cacao] constitute the cocoa of the shops. Ure , Dict., I. 569. Specifically-(a) In metal., to roast or scorch, as metallic ores. (b) In phar., to dry or parch, as drugs, on a me tallic plate till they become friable or are reduced to any Pr. state desired. torrent (tor'ent), a. and n. [F.torrent = torrent = Sp. Pg. It. torrente, a torrent; Fierce Phlegethon, Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. Milton, P. L., ii. 581. II. n. 1. A rushing stream, as of water or lava; a stream flowing rapidly and with violence, as down the side of a hill or over a precipice. And so firste we come to Torrens Cedron, which in somer tyme is drye. Sir R. Guylforde , Pylgrymage, p. 31. The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it With lusty sinews. Shak., J. C., i. 2. 107. The ghastly torrent mingles its far roar With the breeze. Shelley, Alastor. Figuratively, a violent or overwhelming flow; a flood: as, a torrent of abusive words. 2. collar for the neck, particularly one worn by uncivilized people, and of such a make as to retain its rigidity and circular form. Such a collar was considered a characteristic attribute of the ancient Gauls. Also torques. They [the Gauls] wore collars and torques of gold, neck laces, and bracelets, and strings of brightly-coloured beads, made of gla or of a material like the Egyptian porcelain. C. Elton, Origins of Eng. Hist., p. 115. The Anglo-Saxons habitually wore upon their arms twisted bracelets or torques , or, in their stead, a number of simple bracelets. Encyc . Brit ., VI. 465. 2. In mech., the moment of a system-force applied so as to twist anything, as a shaft in machinery. The torque , or turning moment, is, in a series dynamo, both when used as a generator and when used as a motor, very nearly proportional to the current. S. P. Thompson , Dynamo-Electric Machinery, p. 45. torqued (tôrkt), a . [ torquer , twist, torque ), + -ed2.] 1. Twisted; convoluted. On this West shore we found a dead fish floating, which had in his nose a horne streight and torquet , of length two yards lacking two ynches. Hakluyt's Voyages, III. 35. 2. Twisted like a rope: said of metal-work. A pair of ear-rings of base silver, the large torqued circles of which were closed by a sort of hook and eye. Archæologia, XXXVII. 102. 3. In her., same as targant. torquened (tôr'kend), a. [Cf. torqued, turken.] In her., same as targant. torqued.