bore
Pronunciation
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Pronunciation
- (America) IPA: /bɔɹ/
- (RP) IPA: /bɔː/
- (rhotic, non-horse-hoarse) IPA: /bo(ː)ɹ/
- (non-rhotic, non-horse-hoarse) IPA: /boə/
From Middle English boren, from Old English borian, 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, Latin feriō and Albanian birë. Sense of wearying may come from a figurative use such as "to bore the ears"; compare German drillen.
Verbbore (bores, present participle boring; simple past and past participle bored)
(transitive) To inspire boredom in somebody. - Reading books really bores me; films are much more exciting.
- to bore someone to death
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i], page 206 ↗:
- He bores me with some trick.
- 1881, Thomas Carlyle, Reminiscences:
- […] used to come and bore me at rare intervals.
(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.
- (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.
- (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
- (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
- (intransitive) To be pierced or penetrated by an instrument that cuts as it turns.
- This timber does not bore well.
- (intransitive) To glare (as if to drill a hole with the eyes).
- Their eyes bore into my back.
- (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.
- (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.
- (obsolete) To fool; to trick.
- (make a hole through something) see also Thesaurus:make a hole
- French: percer
- German: bohren
- Italian: alesare, scavare, scavare
- Portuguese: cavar
- Russian: сверли́ть
- Spanish: perforar, horadar, agujerear
- French: ennuyer, barber
- German: langweilen
- Italian: annoiare, tediare
- Portuguese: chatear, aborrecer, entediar
- Russian: надоеда́ть
- Spanish: aburrir
bore (plural bores)
- A hole drilled or milled through something, or (by extension) its diameter.
- the bore of a cannon
- The tunnel inside of a gun's barrel through which the bullet travels when fired, or (by extension) its diameter.
- A tool, such as an auger, for making a hole by boring.
- A capped well drilled to tap artesian water.
- The place where such a well exists.
- One who inspires boredom or lack of interest; an uninteresting person.
- My neighbour is such a bore when he talks about his coin collection.
- 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.
- Calibre; importance.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene vi]:
- Yet are they much too light for the bore of the matter.
- See also Thesaurus:bore
- German: Bohrung
- Italian: foro
- Russian: отве́рстие
- German: Langweiler
- Italian: pedante, logorroico
- Russian: зану́да
- Spanish: pesado, pelmazo, petardo (colloquial), plasta (colloquial), palizas (colloquial), plomo (colloquial), pestiño (colloquial), muermo (colloquial), sosaina (colloquial)
From Middle English *bore, bare, a borrowing from Old Norse bára, from Proto-Germanic *bērō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.
Nounbore (plural bores)
Synonyms Translations- French: mascaret
- German: Gezeitenwelle
- Italian: flusso anomalo, ondata anomala
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
