torr

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Torrefied p. pr. & vb. n. Torrefying. ] [ L. torrere to parch + -fy: cf. F. torréfier, L. torrefacere. ] [ Written also torrify. ] 1. To dry by a fire. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metal.) To subject to scorching heat, so as to drive off volatile ingredients; to roast, as ores. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Pharm.) To dry or parch, as drugs, on a metallic plate till they are friable, or are reduced to the state desired. [ 1913 Webster ]

A system of registration of titles to land (as distinct from registration of deeds) introduced into South Australia by the Real Property (or Torrens) Act (act 15 of 1857-58), drafted by Sir Robert Torrens (1814-84). Its essential feature is the guaranty by the government of properly registered titles. The system has been generally adopted in Australia and British Columbia, and in its original or a modified form in some other countries, including some States of the United States. Hence
Torrens title, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F., fr. L. torrens, -entis, fr. torrens burning, roaring, boiling, p. pr. of torrere to dry by heat, to burn. See Torrid. ] 1. A violent stream, as of water, lava, or the like; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice. [ 1913 Webster ]

The roaring torrent is deep and wide. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: A violent or rapid flow; a strong current; a flood; as, a torrent of vices; a torrent of eloquence. [ 1913 Webster ]

At length, Erasmus, that great injured name, . . .
Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Torrent, n. ] Rolling or rushing in a rapid stream. “Waves of torrent fire.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to a torrent; having the character of a torrent; caused by a torrent . [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Torricelli, an Italian philosopher and mathematician, who, in 1643, discovered that the rise of a liquid in a tube, as in the barometer, is due to atmospheric pressure. See Barometer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Torricellian tube, a glass tube thirty or more inches in length, open at the lower end and hermetically sealed at the upper, such as is used in the barometer. --
Torricellian vacuum (Physics), a vacuum produced by filling with a fluid, as mercury, a tube hermetically closed at one end, and, after immersing the other end in a vessel of the same fluid, allowing the inclosed fluid to descend till it is counterbalanced by the pressure of the atmosphere, as in the barometer. Hutton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. torridus, fr. torrere to parch, to burn, akin to E. Thist: cf. F. torride. See Thirst. ] 1. Parched; dried with heat; as, a torrid plain or desert. “Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Violenty hot; drying or scorching with heat; burning; parching. “Torrid heat.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Torrid zone (Geog.), that space or board belt of the earth, included between the tropics, over which the sun is vertical at some period of every year, and the heat is always great. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Torridness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]