torrent

1 of 3

noun

tor·​rent ˈtȯr-ənt How to pronounce torrent (audio)
ˈtär-
plural torrents
1
a
: a violent or forceful flow of fluid
Terrifying video captured near Hawaii volcano Kilauea shows a torrent of lava violently flowing down the slopes of the erupting mount …Aurora Bosotti
especially : a rushing stream of water
Beneath the area's dense canopy of vegetation, rugged hills and valleys are bisected by streams that rage as torrents during the rainy season, forbidding terrain for any unwelcome stranger. Anthony Loyd
… the vast network of storm-water drains that move great torrents of water out of the city when it rains … Duncan Murrell
As church bells pealed yesterday, a torrent of water was unleashed through a manmade gap in the 162-year-old Edwards Dam in the first U.S. government-ordered demolition of a dam in the name of conservation. Glen Adams
b
: a heavy downpour of rain
… a torrent of rain poured down.Walter Farley
usually used in plural
The rain is coming down in torrents. Lightning is flashing.Alice Walker
Torrents of rain drenched the Hamptons …Chris Mundy
2
: a tumultuous outpouring : rush
Injuries, a 13-game losing streak and a torrent of criticism have turned this into the toughest season of Vince Carter's four-year career.Ian Thomsen
The torrent of money flowing into the field can only be described in superlatives—hundreds of millions of dollars for efforts such as Princeton's Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior and MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research.Charles Barber
often used in plural
torrents of unsolicited e-mail advertising …Peter H. Lewis
… once he becomes fixed on a subject, the words come in torrents.Jeffrey Goldberg
3
: a channel of a mountain stream
As we advanced up the valley, the road presented yet another vertiginous challenge. Being a single track carved out of the mountain wall that flanked a glacial torrent, it meant that when a car came from the opposite direction, one had to back to the nearest turnaround.June P. Wilson
4
computing : a protocol (see protocol sense 3b) that is used to distribute a large computer file (such as of digitized music or video) that has been segmented in small pieces between a large number of peer-to-peer users
… user behaviour, such as use of file-sharing services and protocols like torrentShelley Boose
Over the weekend, several ISPs … began showing a warning to users when they visited certain torrent or other file-sharing websites.Rajat Agrawal
also : a file or set of files that is transferred with this protocol
Let me just share the best way I know how to download torrents without setting off any red flags. Daniel Bulygin
Torrent files have been a top choice of users across the internet to share files for almost two decades. Ivan Mehta

torrent

2 of 3

verb

torrented; torrenting; torrents
1
intransitive : to move in a torrent (see torrent entry 1 sense 1a)
rivers of torrenting water
Water torrents off hillsides, thunders over falls, sparkles in ponds and pools.Sunset
2
transitive + intransitive : to download via a torrent (see torrent entry 1 sense 4)
Torrenting itself isn't illegal, but downloading unsanctioned copyrighted material is. It's not always immediately apparent which content is legal to torrent and which isn't.Paul Bischoff
[Dan] Schlosser said that when he was caught torrenting, the University forwarded him a notice of copyright infringement from HBO and warned that if he were caught again, he would have to meet with a representative from the Office of Judicial Affairs.Aaron Fisher

torrent

3 of 3

adjective

Examples of torrent in a Sentence

Noun The storm turned the stream into a raging torrent. The rain came down in torrents.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Trump shared his thoughts on TikTok and Facebook amid his torrent of attacks on President Joe Biden, who delivered the State of the Union address on Thursday. Todd Spangler, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024 High Costs and Layoffs Following the Great Resignation, the U.S. labor market has been besieged by an unrelenting torrent of layoff announcements. Jack Kelly, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024 Fourteen years ago, an unexpectedly powerful, slow-moving rainstorm unleashed a torrent of mud that inundated more than 40 homes in La Cañada Flintridge, a far cry from an initial forecast of a light to moderate rainstorm. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2024 This week, the case has been a torrent of briefs and motions. Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2024 Le’s death set off a torrent of grief throughout the Oakland Police Department and an outpouring of solidarity from a community devastated by the shocking attack and beset by an entrenched crime problem. Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2024 The final rule will likely expose the SEC to a torrent of legal challenges. Stone Washington, National Review, 1 Mar. 2024 Devoting more resources toward building capacity in places that don’t have the ability, time or personnel to even write a grant would help ensure they are not left out of the torrent of infrastructure money pouring across the country right now. USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024 Two weeks ago the Busch Clash at the Coliseum was moved up a day because of the anticipated torrent of rain in Los Angeles. John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2024
Adjective
During his torrent week for Norfolk, Stowers hit three homers in one game and knocked in 10 RBIs. Andy Kostka, Baltimore Sun, 28 May 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'torrent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French & Latin; French, "violent stream of liquid," going back to Old French, borrowed from Latin torrent-, torrens "rushing stream, river current," noun derivative of torrens, adjective, "flowing headlong, rushing," probably going back to a participial derivative of an Indo-European stative present *tr̥s-eh1- "be dried out, be dessicated," from a verbal base *ters- "dry up, become thirsty" — more at thirst entry 1

Note: According to the hypothesis suggested in the etymology, the original meaning of the noun torrens would have been "dessicated area, dry stream bed"; as such stream beds, particularly in Mediterranean climates, could be filled with fast-flowing water during rainy periods, the meaning shifted to "rushing stream." Hence the homonymy between torrens and the present participle of the causative verb torrēre "to heat so as to dry, scorch, parch" (from *tors-see torrid) would be fortuitous. Such a shift was already hypothesized by the Roman grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus.

Verb

verbal derivative of torrent entry 1

Adjective

borrowed from Latin torrent-, torrens "flowing headlong, rushing" — more at torrent entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1608, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1858, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1667, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of torrent was in 1608

Dictionary Entries Near torrent

Cite this Entry

“Torrent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torrent. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

torrent

noun
tor·​rent
ˈtȯr-ənt,
ˈtär-
1
: a rushing stream of a liquid
a torrent of rain
2
: a mountain stream or its channel
3
: a sudden rush like a stream of liquid
a torrent of criticism
Etymology

Noun

from French torrent "a violent stream of liquid," from Latin torrent-, torrens (same meaning), from torrens (adjective) "burning, flowing with great force," derived from torrēre "to heat so as to dry up or burn" — related to torrid see Word History at torrid

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