torcher

English

Etymology

From torch +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔɹt͡ʃɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tʃə(ɹ)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: torture
• Hyphenation: torch‧er

Noun

torcher (plural torchers)

1. One who torches something.

   The torchers of buildings must be dealt with.

2. (obsolete) One who gives light with a torch, or as if with a torch.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 162:

     Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring
     Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring, […]

3. (music) A torch song
   • 1988 August 26, Neil Tesser, “Montgomery, Plant & Stritch”, in Chicago Reader‎:

     […] their set includes a Patsy Cline torcher and reaches some sort of peak with a 29-song Irving Berlin medley.

4. (music) A singer of a torch song
   • 1939, Raymond Chandler, chapter 20, in The Big Sleep, New York: Knopf:

     What did the girl do before she married Eddie Mars?
     Torcher.
     Can’t you get any old professional photos?

5. (science fiction) The pilot of a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion).

References

• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2025), “torcher, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

French

Etymology

From torche +‎ -er. The vulgar sense is from the notion of wiping one's posterior after defecating.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔʁ.ʃe/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

torcher

1. to wipe with a cloth to remove dirt

   Torcher les assiettes.

   To wipe the plates.

2. to flare (to burn off excess gas at a petroleum drilling site)
3. (slang) to churn out

   Synonym: bâcler

4. (vulgar, reflexive) not to care, not to give a fuck

   Je me torche de ce qu'il en pense!

   I don't give a fuck what he thinks about it!

5. (slang, passive voice) to be drunk

   T'étais complètement torché hier soir !

   You were absolutely smashed last night!

Conjugation

Conjugation of torcher (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	torcher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	torchant /tɔʁ.ʃɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		torché /tɔʁ.ʃe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	torche /tɔʁʃ/	torches /tɔʁʃ/	torche /tɔʁʃ/	torchons /tɔʁ.ʃɔ̃/	torchez /tɔʁ.ʃe/	torchent /tɔʁʃ/
	imperfect	torchais /tɔʁ.ʃɛ/	torchais /tɔʁ.ʃɛ/	torchait /tɔʁ.ʃɛ/	torchions /tɔʁ.ʃjɔ̃/	torchiez /tɔʁ.ʃje/	torchaient /tɔʁ.ʃɛ/
	past historic2	torchai /tɔʁ.ʃe/	torchas /tɔʁ.ʃa/	torcha /tɔʁ.ʃa/	torchâmes /tɔʁ.ʃam/	torchâtes /tɔʁ.ʃat/	torchèrent /tɔʁ.ʃɛʁ/
	future	torcherai /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁe/	torcheras /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁa/	torchera /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁa/	torcherons /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/	torcherez /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁe/	torcheront /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	torcherais /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	torcherais /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	torcherait /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	torcherions /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/	torcheriez /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁje/	torcheraient /tɔʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	torche /tɔʁʃ/	torches /tɔʁʃ/	torche /tɔʁʃ/	torchions /tɔʁ.ʃjɔ̃/	torchiez /tɔʁ.ʃje/	torchent /tɔʁʃ/
	imperfect2	torchasse /tɔʁ.ʃas/	torchasses /tɔʁ.ʃas/	torchât /tɔʁ.ʃa/	torchassions /tɔʁ.ʃa.sjɔ̃/	torchassiez /tɔʁ.ʃa.sje/	torchassent /tɔʁ.ʃas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	torche /tɔʁʃ/	—	torchons /tɔʁ.ʃɔ̃/	torchez /tɔʁ.ʃe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• torchage
• torche-cul
• torchée
• torcheur
• torchon

Further reading

• “torcher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition