Torricellian, tor-i-sel′i-an, or tor-i-chēl′i-an, adj. pertaining to the Italian mathematician Evangelista Torricelli (1608-47), who discovered in 1643 the principle on which the barometer is constructed.—Torricellian tube, the barometer; Torricellian vacuum, the vacuum in the barometer.
Torrid, tor′id, adj. burning or parching: violently hot: dried with heat.—ns. Torrid′ity, Torr′idness.—Torrid zone, the broad belt round the earth betwixt the tropics, on either side of the equator. [L. torridus—torrēre, to burn.]
Torse, tors, n. a heraldic wreath.—ns. Torsade′, an ornament like a twisted cord; Tor′sel, a twisted scroll: a plate in a brick wall to support the end of a beam.
Torshent, tor′shent, n. (U.S.) the youngest child and pet of a family.—Also Torsh.
Torsion, tor′shun, n. act of twisting or turning a body: the force with which a thread or wire tends to return when twisted, the kind of strain produced in a bar or wire when one end is kept fixed and the other is rotated about the axis: (surg.) a method of common application for the purpose of checking arterial hæmorrhage in certain cases, by twisting the cut end of the artery.—n. Torsibil′ity.—adj. Tor′sional, pertaining to, or resulting from, torsion.—n. Tor′sion-bal′ance, an instrument for measuring very minute forces by a delicate horizontal bar or needle, suspended by a very fine thread or wire.—adj. Tor′sive, twisted spirally. [L. torsio—torquēre, tortum, to twist.]
Torsk, torsk, n. a genus of fish of the cod family, abundant in the northern parts of the Atlantic Ocean, characterised by a single long dorsal fin, and by having the vertical fins separate. [Sw. torsk; Ger. dorsch, a haddock.]
Torso, tor′sō, n. the trunk of a statue without head or limbs:—pl. Tor′sos.—Also Torse. [It.; prob. Teut., Old High Ger. turso, torso, stalk.]
Tort, tort, n. a term in the law of England including all those wrongs, not arising out of contract, for which a remedy by compensation or damages is given in a court of law: (Spens.) wrong, injury, calamity.—adj. Tor′tious (Spens.), wrongful, injurious. [Low L. tortum—L. torquĕre, tortum, to twist.]
Torticollis, tor-ti-kol′is, n. wryneck.
Tortile, tor′til, adj. twisted: wreathed: coiled.—n. Tortil′ity.—adj. Tor′tive (Shak.), twisted, wreathed.