Torrent

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈtɒɹ.É™nÌ©t/
• US IPA: /ˈtɔːɹ.ɪnt /, /ˈtɔːɹ.É™nt/

1601 From French torrent

Full definition of torrent

Noun

1. A violent flow, as of water, lava, etc.; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice.
• Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe roaring torrent is deep and wide.
• 2013-06-29, High and wet, Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale....Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
2. Rain fell on the hills in torrents.
   A torrent of green and white water broke over the hull of the sail-boat.
3. (figurative) A large amount or stream of something.
• 2011, December 21, Helen Pidd, Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis, A new stream of migrants is leaving the continent. It threatens to become a torrent if the debt crisis continues to worsen.
• 1906, Alfred Noyes, s:The Highwayman (Noyes), The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
  The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
  The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor ...
4. They endured a torrent of inquiries.

Derived terms

• torrential
• torrentiality
• torrentially

Adjective

1. Rolling or rushing in a rapid stream.
• MiltonWaves of torrent fire.

From BitTorrent and the file extension it uses for metadata (

.torrent

).

Noun

1. (Internet, file sharing) A set of files obtainable through a peer-to-peer network, especially BitTorrent.I got a torrent of the complete works of Shakespeare the other day; I'm not sure why.

Verb

1. (internet slang, transitive) To download in a torrent.The video rental place didn't have the film I was after, but I managed to torrent it.----