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bore

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "bore"

English

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Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English boren, from Old English borian (“to pierce”), from Proto-West Germanic *borōn, from Proto-Germanic *burōną.

Compare Danish bore, Norwegian Bokmål bore, Dutch boren, German bohren, Old Norse bora. Cognate with Latin forō (“to bore, to pierce”), Latin feriō (“strike, cut”) and Albanian birë (“hole”). Sense of wearying may come from a figurative use such as "to bore the ears"; compare German drillen.

Verb

bore (third-person singular simple present bores, present participle boring, simple past and past participle bored)

  2. (transitive) To inspire boredom in somebody.
    to bore someone to death
    Reading books really bores me; films are much more exciting.
  4. (transitive) To make a hole through something.
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
      I'll believe as soon this whole earth may be bored.
    • 1950 September, “Network News: Watford Tunnel, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 641:
      On June 8, 1872, the London & North Western Railway obtained powers to quadruple its main line, and a new tunnel was bored for the up and down slow lines.
  5. (intransitive) To make a hole with, or as if with, a boring instrument; to cut a circular hole by the rotary motion of a tool.
    to bore for water or oil
    An insect bores into a tree.
  6. (transitive) To form or enlarge (something) by means of a boring instrument or apparatus.
    to bore a steam cylinder or a gun barrel; to bore a hole
    • 1862, Thaddeus William Harris, A Treatise on Some of the Insects Injurious to Vegetation:
      short but very powerful jaws, by means whereof the insect can bore […] a cylindrical passage through the most solid wood
  7. (transitive) To make (a passage) by laborious effort, as in boring; to force a narrow and difficult passage through.
    to bore one’s way through a crowd
  8. (intransitive) To be pierced or penetrated by an instrument that cuts as it turns.
    This timber does not bore well.
  9. (intransitive) To glare (as if to drill a hole with the eyes).
    Their eyes bore into my back.
  10. (transitive, sports, slang) To push or drive (a boxer into the ropes, a boat out of its course, etc.).
    • 1824, Pierce Egan, Boxiana; Or, Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism, page 600:
      The right hand of Curtis was open too much ; but he nevertheless had the best of the hitting in this round, till Inglis bored him down, out of the ropes.
    • 1885, Tresham Gilbey, Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, volume 43, page 107:
      Hanlan, it seems, led at about a mile, when Beach's steamer bored him, and to avoid the danger of being swamped, he put on a violent spurt and drew well clear of Beach, getting some lengths lead.
  11. (intransitive) To push forward in a certain direction with laborious effort.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
      They take their flight […] boring to the west.
  12. (obsolete) To fool; to trick.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

bore (plural bores)

  1. A hole drilled or milled through something, or (by extension) its diameter.
    the bore of a cannon
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “II. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 53:
      the bores of wind-instruments
  2. The tunnel inside of a gun's barrel through which the bullet travels when fired, or (by extension) its diameter.
  3. A tool, such as an auger, for making a hole by boring.
  4. A capped well drilled to tap artesian water.
    1. The place where such a well exists.
  5. One who inspires boredom or lack of interest; an uninteresting person.
    My neighbour is such a bore when he talks about his coin collection.
  6. Something dull or uninteresting.
    What a bore that movie was! There was no action, and the dialogue was totally uncreative.
    • 1871, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Passages from the French and Italian Notebooks:
      It is as great a bore as to hear a poet read his own verses.
  7. Calibre; importance.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Descendants

  • → Tamil: போர் (pōr)

Etymology 2

From Middle English *bore, bare, a borrowing from Old Norse bára (“billow, wave”), from Proto-Germanic *bērō (“that which bears or carries”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear”). Cognate with Icelandic bára (“billow, wave”), Faroese bára (“billow, wave”). Doublet of bier.

Noun

bore (plural bores)

  1. A sudden and rapid flow of tide occurring in certain rivers and estuaries which rolls up as a wave.
    • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 102:
      In another moment a huge wave, like a muddy tidal bore, but almost scaldingly hot, came sweeping round the bend up-stream.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 3

Verb

bore

  1. simple past of bear
  2. (colloquial) past participle of bear
    • 1746, Charles Fearne, Minutes of the proceedings of a court-martial, aſſembled […] ‎, London, page 159:
      Q. When the Fireſhip appeared to be going down towards the Real, do you think that the Dorſetſhire could have bore down in Time, to have covered and aſſiſted her?
    • 1834, Augustus Earle, A Narrative of a Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand in 1827 […] ‎, pages 345–346:
      […] by altering their course a very little, and easily have bore down abreast of our settlement, without incurring the smallest risk!
    • 2006 February 10, Karl F. Hoffman, Jennifer M. Fitzpatrick, “The Application of DNA Microarrays in the Functional Study of Schisostome/Host Biology”, in W. Evan Secor, Daniel G. Colley, editors, Schistosomiasis, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 101:
      The end of the 20th century and the start of the new millennium have bore witness to a remarkable revolution in the way parasite/host biological interactions can be conceptually designed and experimentally studied.
  3. (proscribed) simple past of bare

Anagrams

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Cornish

Etymology

Borrowed from Welsh bore. Cognate with Breton beure, Old Irish báireach and Old Irish bárach, whence i mbáireach and i mbárach (“tomorrow”), modern Irish amáireach (Munster, Connaught) and Irish amárach (Donegal).

Noun

bore m

  1. morning

Mutation

More information unmutated, soft ...

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

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Middle English

Norwegian Bokmål

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Welsh

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