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TORRENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A violently fast stream of water (or other liquid)
Example:
the houses were swept away in the torrent
Synonyms:
torrent; violent stream
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("torrent" is a kind of...):
current; stream (a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes))
Derivation:
torrential (relating to or resulting from the action of a torrent)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A heavy rain
Synonyms:
cloudburst; deluge; downpour; pelter; soaker; torrent; waterspout
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Hypernyms ("torrent" is a kind of...):
rain; rainfall (water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere)
Derivation:
torrential (pouring in abundance)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An overwhelming number or amount
Example:
a torrent of abuse
Synonyms:
deluge; flood; inundation; torrent
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("torrent" is a kind of...):
batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad ((often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent)
Derivation:
torrential (resembling a torrent in force and abundance)
Context examples:
In addition to the sea level, extreme rainfall events are also among the causes for environmental problems in coastal regions, leading to landslides, torrents, and flooding.
(Brazil's coastal cities more vulnerable to climate change, Agência Brasil)
I had found sublimity and wonder in the dread heights and precipices, in the roaring torrents, and the wastes of ice and snow; but as yet, they had taught me nothing else.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Last year, NASA put out a statement expressing doubt that the planet could have an atmosphere in the sense that most of us understand it: Considering the host star's age and the planet's proximity to its host star, the scientists expect that Proxima B is subjected to torrents of X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation from superflares occurring roughly every two hours.
(Simulations show planet orbiting Proxima Centauri could have liquid water, Wikinews)
Astronomers theorize that this frenzied star birth was sparked by a torrent of gas flowing into the galaxy's core while it formed deep inside a gravitational well of dark matter, invisible cosmic material that acts as the scaffolding of the universe for galaxy construction.
(Telescopes Uncover Early Construction of Giant Galaxy, NASA)
Soon after I heard a general shout, with frequent repetitions of the words Peplom selan; and I felt great numbers of people on my left side relaxing the cords to such a degree, that I was able to turn upon my right, and to ease myself with making water; which I very plentifully did, to the great astonishment of the people; who, conjecturing by my motion what I was going to do, immediately opened to the right and left on that side, to avoid the torrent, which fell with such noise and violence from me.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
The rain was pouring in torrents, and thick mists hid the summits of the mountains, so that I even saw not the faces of those mighty friends.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The wind roared down the chimney, the rain beat in torrents against the windows, and everything seemed to speak the awfulness of her situation.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
The scorching torrent was enough to wither the face of the corpse.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Gloomy defiles or barrancas intersected this wild country with mountain torrents dashing and foaming between their rugged sides.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was not without a certain wild pleasure I ran before the wind, delivering my trouble of mind to the measureless air-torrent thundering through space.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
