bore

1 of 6

verb (1)

ˈbȯr 

bored; boring

transitive verb

1

: to pierce with a turning or twisting movement of a tool

bore a wooden post

2

: to make by boring or digging away material

bored a tunnel

use a drill to bore a hole through the board

intransitive verb

1

a

: to make a hole by or as if by boring

insects that bore into trees

b

: to sink a mine shaft or well

boring for oil

2

: to make one's way steadily especially against resistance

We bored through the jostling crowd.

bore

2 of 6

noun (1)

1

a

: a usually cylindrical hole made by or as if by the turning or twisting movement of a tool : a hole made by or as if by boring (see bore entry 1)

b

chiefly Australia and New Zealand : a borehole drilled especially to make an artesian well

2

a

: the long usually cylindrical hollow part of something (such as a tube or gun barrel)

b

: the inner surface of a hollow cylindrical object

3

: the size of a bore: such as

a

: the interior diameter of a gun barrel

especially, chiefly British : gauge sense 1a(2)

a .22 bore revolver

b

: the diameter of an engine cylinder

bore

3 of 6

past tense of bear

bore

4 of 6

noun (2)

: a tidal flood with a high abrupt front

a dangerous bore at the mouth of the Amazon

bore

5 of 6

noun (3)

: one that causes weariness and restlessness through lack of interest : one that causes boredom: such as

a

: a dull or tiresome person

His friends are a bunch of bores.

b

: something that is devoid of interest

The lecture was a total bore.

bore

6 of 6

verb

bored; boring

transitive verb

: to cause to feel weariness and restlessness through lack of interest : to cause to feel boredom

trying not to bore your audience

got bored by the party and left

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• drill
• hole
• perforate
• pierce
• punch
• puncture
• riddle

Noun (3)

• drag
• drip
• droner
• dullsville
• nudnik
• nudnick
• snooze
• snoozer
• yawn
• yawner

Verb

• jade
• tire
• weary

Examples of bore in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Analytical tasks could be a bore when the moon aligns with Neptune. —USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024

Several Lake Tahoe ski resorts closed, and Yosemite National Park visitors were told to leave after California's most powerful storm of the season bore down on the region. —Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 4 Mar. 2024

Oil coated the wellhead, rust crept across the pump jack and a faded sign bore Remnant’s coat of arms — a bird of prey with outstretched wings perched on a shield. —Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 22 Feb. 2024

While Google does not bar Android users from downloading apps from outside Play, Epic argued that the available workarounds were too cumbersome and that Play’s dominance bore that out. —Paresh Dave, WIRED, 12 Dec. 2023

But for about 20 minutes, the public bore witness to the warmhearted counsel of a Black father — a figure that is often caricatured in or disappeared from America’s family portraits. —Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2024

The victims all succumbed to a strange illness after taking an ice bore sample that contained a dormant worm that attaches itself to its hosts, and the members of the team sent to investigate could be next. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Sep. 2023

The simple experiment bore fruit, bumping positive interactions with drivers by 30% on buses where signs were posted. —Lenora Chu, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Feb. 2024

But while Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway revival of the classic King Arthur musical earlier this year was a bit of a bore, the new iteration of the Monty Python funfest is a welcome dose of both hilarious deconstruction and old-fashioned razzle-dazzle. —EW.com, 17 Nov. 2023

Verb

There’s an unfinished attic space above our garage, and, bored one afternoon in early spring, the kids wandered in and started tinkering. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024

Lisa Ko’s limber, ambitious second novel opens with three teen girls, bored at a Fourth of July barbecue, sneaking into a neighbor’s cookout to swipe burgers. —Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2024

The female beetle bores a tiny, round hole on the underside of a twig and lays eggs inside. —Steve Bender, Southern Living, 22 Mar. 2024

More often, the process of invention is a lot less dramatic–slower, boring almost. —Johanna Mayer, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2024

Champion Girls Sports Bra: Basic doesn’t mean boring with this sports bra. —Cheryl Fenton, Parents, 20 Mar. 2024

The project would replace the existing dual pipelines, which lie on the lakebed exposed to the elements and other risks like anchor strikes, with a single pipeline that will be housed in a tunnel bored through rock and buried beneath the lakebed. —Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2024

In trials, millimeter waves have bored holes through granite, basalt, sandstone, and limestone. —IEEE Spectrum, 12 Mar. 2024

But little of what followed bore much resemblance to a typical campaign speech. —Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English boren, going back to Old English borian, going back to Germanic *bur-ō- (whence Old High German borōn "to pierce," Old Norse bora), probably verbal derivative of a noun base bur- "tool for piercing" (whence Old English bor "chiseling instrument," Old High German bora); akin to Latin forāre "to bore," ferīre "to strike"

Noun (1)

Middle English, "hole, perforation," in part noun derivative of boren "to bore entry 1," in part borrowed from Old Norse bora "borehole," derivative of bora "to bore"

Noun (2)

Middle English *bore wave, from Old Norse bāra

Noun (3)

of uncertain origin

Note: Plausibly a derivative of the verb bore entry 6, if this was a sense development of bore entry 1 ("to drill, wear at" & "to induce ennui"); however, the noun, a vogue word among London political and cultural figures in the 1760's, appears to predate the verb.

Verb

perhaps verbal derivative of bore entry 5 if the noun is earlier

Note: See note at bore entry 5.

First Known Use

Verb (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

1601, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1766, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1768, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bore

• full bore
• small-bore

Kids Definition

bore

1 of 6 verb

ˈbō(ə)r 

ˈbȯ(ə)r

bored; boring

1

: to make a hole in especially with a drill

2

: to make (as a hole shaped like a cylinder) by boring or digging away material

bore a well

3

: to move forward steadily especially by overcoming an opposing force

the plane bored through the storm

bore

2 of 6 noun

1

: a hole made by or as if by boring

2

: a cavity (as in a gun barrel) shaped like a cylinder

3

: the diameter of a hole or tube

especially : the interior diameter of a gun barrel

bore

3 of 6

past of bear

bore

4 of 6 noun

: a tidal flood with a high abrupt front

bore

5 of 6 noun

: an uninteresting person or thing

bore

6 of 6 verb

bored; boring

: to make weary and restless by being dull or monotonous

Etymology

Verb

Old English borian "to bore"

Noun

probably of Norse origin

Noun

origin unknown

Medical Definition

bore

1 of 2

past of bear

bore

2 of 2 noun

ˈbō(ə)r, ˈbȯ(ə)r 

1

: the long usually cylindrical hollow part of something (as a tube or artery)

2

: the internal diameter of a tube (as a hypodermic needle, catheter, or sound)

a small-bore catheter

Legal Definition

bore

past of bear