Tor*ment"ful (?), a. Full of torment; causing, or accompanied by,
torment; excruciating. [R.] Tillotson.
Tor"men*til (?), n. [F. tormentille; cf. Pr., It., & NL. tormentilla,
Sp. tormentila; all fr. L. tormentum pain. So called because it is said
to allay pain. See Torment.] (Bot.) A rosaceous herb (Potentilla
Tormentilla), the root of which is used as a powerful astringent, and
for alleviating gripes, or tormina, in diarrhea.
Tor*ment"ing (?), a. Causing torment; as, a tormenting dream. —
Tor*ment"ing*ly, adv.
Tor"ment*ise (?), n. [See Torment.] Torture; torment. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Tor*ment"or (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, torments; one who
inflicts penal anguish or tortures. Jer. Taylor.
Thoughts, my tormentors, armed with deadly stings.
Milton.
2. (Agric.) An implement for reducing a stiff soil, resembling a
harrow, but running upon wheels. Hebert.
Tor*ment"ress (?), n. A woman who torments.
Fortune ordinarily cometh after to whip and punish them, as the scourge
and tormentress of glory and honor.
Holland.
Tor"ment*ry (?), n. Anything producing torment, annoyance, or pain.
[Obs.] Chaucer.
<! p. 1520 !>
||Tor"mi*na (?), n. pl. [L., a griping in the belly.] (Med.) acute,
||colicky pains; gripes.
||
Tor"mi*nous (?), a. (Med.) Affected with tormina; griping.
Torn (?), p. p. of Tear.
Tor*na"do (?), n.; pl. Tornadoes (#). [From Sp. or Pg. tornar to turn,
return, L. tornare to turn, hence, a whirling wind. The Sp. & Pg.
tornada is a return. See Turn.] A violent whirling wind; specifically
(Meteorol.), a tempest distinguished by a rapid whirling and slow
progressive motion, usually accompaned with severe thunder, lightning,
and torrents of rain, and commonly of short duration and small breadth;
a small cyclone.
||Tor*na"ri*a (?), n.; pl. Tornariæ (#). [NL., fr. L. tornare to turn.]
||(Zoöl.) The peculiar free swimming larva of Balanoglossus. See
||Illust. in Append.
||
To*rose" (?), a. [L. torosus full of muscle, brawny, fleshy. See
Torus.] Cylindrical with alternate swellings and contractions; having
the surface covered with rounded prominences.
To*ros"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being torose.
Torous (?), a. Torose.
Tor*ped"i*nous (?), a. Of or pertaining to a torpedo; resembling a
torpedo; exerting a benumbing influence; stupefying; dull; torpid.
Fishy were his eyes; torpedinous was his manner.
De Quincey.
Tor*pe"do (?), n.; pl. Torpedoes (#). [L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere
to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See Torpid.]
1. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes belonging
to Torpedo and allied genera. They are related to the rays, but have
the power of giving electrical shocks. Called also crampfish, and
numbfish. See Electrical fish, under Electrical.
The common European torpedo (T. vulgaris) and the American species (T.
occidentalis) are the best known.
2. An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up.
Specifically: —
(a) A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water,
or set adrift in a current, and so arranged that they will be exploded
when touched by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an
operator on shore.
(b) A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and
projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made
self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a
distant ship.
3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded
by electricity or by stepping on it.
4. (Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail,
and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, — used as an
alarm signal.
5. An explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a bored oil
well, and there exploded, to clear the well of obstructions or to open
communication with a source of supply of oil.
6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which
explodes when thrown upon a hard object.
Fish torpedo, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped, self-propelling
submarine torpedo. — Spar torpedo, a canister or other vessel
containing an explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar
which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against an enemy's
ship, exploding the torpedo. — Torpedo boat, a vessel adapted for
carrying, launching, operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes
against an enemy's ship. — Torpedo nettings, nettings made of chains or
bars, which can be suspended around a vessel and allowed to sink
beneath the surface of the water, as a protection against torpedoes.
Tor*pe"do, v. t. to destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo.
London Spectator.
Tor"pent (?), a. [L. torpens, p. pr. of torpere to be numb.] Having no
motion or activity; incapable of motion; benumbed; torpid. [Obs.]
Evelyn.
Tor*pes"cence (?), n. The quality or state or being torpescent;
torpidness; numbness; stupidity.
Tor*pes"cent (?), a. [L. torpescens, p. pr. of torpescere to grow
stiff, numb, or torpid, incho. fr. torpere. See Torpid.] Becoming
torpid or numb. Shenstone.
Tor"pid (tôr"pd), a. [L. torpidus, fr. torpere to be stiff, numb, or
torpid; of uncertain origin.] 1. Having lost motion, or the power of
exertion and feeling; numb; benumbed; as, a torpid limb.
Without heat all things would be torpid.
Ray.