bore

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "bore"

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English boren, from Old English borian (“to pierce”), 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.

Boring a hole through a wooden plank with an auger.

Verb[edit]

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

  2. (transitive) To inspire boredom in somebody.
    Reading books really bores me, films are much more exciting.
    bore someone to death
  4. (transitive) To make a hole through something.
  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. (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.
  10. (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.
  11. (obsolete) To fool; to trick.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Bore of a Krupp 38 cm gun at Batterie Vara / Møvik Fort, Norway.

Noun[edit]

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 […], page 53, →OCLC:
      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[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Verb[edit]

bore

  1. simple past tense of bear
  2. (colloquial) past participle of bear
    • 1746, Charles Fearne, Minutes of the proceedings of a court-martial, aſſembled […] ‎[1], 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 […] ‎[2], 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 tense of bare

Anagrams[edit]

Cornish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

bore m

  1. morning

Mutation[edit]

  Mutation of bore  
Cornish consonant mutation
unmutated soft aspirate hard mixed mixed after 'th
bore vore unchanged pore fore vore

Czech[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bore

  1. vocative singular of bor (“pine wood”)

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bore

  1. vocative singular of bor (“boron”)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Čmejrková, Světla; Hoffmannová, Jana; Klímová, Jana (2013) Čeština v pohledu synchronním a diachronním (in Czech), →ISBN, page 433

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

bore

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of boren

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology[edit]

Coined by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard in 1808, from the same root but independently of English boron.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bore m (uncountable)

  1. boron

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

A back-formation from boren; reinforced by Old Norse bora.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bore (plural bores)

  1. A bore, hole, puncture or indentation.
  2. A gap, cavity or piercing.
  3. (rare, euphemistic) The anus; the asshole.
Descendants[edit]
  • English: bore
  • Scots: bore, boir
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

bore

  1. Alternative form of boryn

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

bore

  1. Alternative form of bor

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse bora.

Verb[edit]

bore (imperative bor, present tense borer, simple past and past participle bora or boret, present participle borende)

  1. to bore or drill (make a hole through something)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Verb[edit]

bore

  1. past participle of bera

Welsh[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Welsh bore, from Proto-Brythonic *bọreɣ, from Proto-Celtic *bāregos (“morning”). Cognate with Breton beure and Old Irish bárach (whence i mbárach (“tomorrow”), modern Irish amáireach and amárach).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bore m (plural boreau)

  1. morning

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Mutation[edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
bore fore more unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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