bore
oxford
views updated May 23 2018bore1 / bôr/ •
v. 1. [tr.] make (a hole) in something, esp. with a revolving tool: they bored holes in the sides. ∎ [tr.] hollow out (a tube or tunnel): try to bore the tunnel at the correct angle. ∎ [intr.] (bore into) fig. (of a person's eyes) stare harshly at: your terrible blue eyes bore into me.2. [intr.] make one's way through (a crowd).•
n. the hollow part inside a gun barrel or other tube. ∎ [often in comb.] the diameter of this; the caliber: a small-bore rifle. ∎ [in comb.] a gun of a specified bore: he shot a guard in the leg with a twelve-bore.bore2 •
n. a person whose talk or behavior is dull and uninteresting: a crashing bore who tells the same old jokes over and over. ∎ [in sing.] a tedious situation or thing: it's such a bore cooking when one's alone.•
v. [tr.] make (someone) feel weary and uninterested by tedious talk or dullness: rather than bore you with all the details, I'll hit some of the bright spots.PHRASES: bore someone to death (or to tears) weary (a person) in the extreme.bore3 •
n. a steep-fronted wave caused by the meeting of two tides or by the constriction of a tide rushing up a narrow estuary.bore4 • past of bear1 .
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
bore
oxford
views updated Jun 27 2018bore A very rapid rise of the tide, in which the advancing flood waters form a wave with an abrupt front. Bores occur in certain shallow
estuaries and river mouths where there is a large tidal range and suitably funnel-shaped regions (e.g. the Amazon, the
Bay of Fundy, the Tsing Kiang River in
China, and the Rivers Severn, Trent, and Ouse in
England).
A Dictionary of Ecology MICHAEL ALLABY
bore
oxford
views updated May 08 2018bore Very rapid rise of the tide, in which the advancing flood waters form a wave with an abrupt front. Bores occur in certain shallow estuaries and river mouths where there is a large tidal range, and suitably funnel-shaped regions, e.g. the Amazon, the
Bay of Fundy, the Tsing Kiang River in
China, and the Rivers Severn, Trent, and Ouse in
England.
A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY
bore
oxford
views updated May 11 2018bore. Interior of tube of wind instr. Determines length and proportions of air column and pitch of lowest note obtainable. In brass instr. length of bore is variable by use of valves, in woodwind by opening and closing sideholes.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE
bore
oxford
views updated May 14 2018bore1 pierce. OE.
borian = MLG., MDu.
boren, OHG.
borōn (G.
bohren), ON.
bora :- Gmc. *
borōn. The IE. base *
bhor- *
bhr is repr. by L.
forāre pierce.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
bore
oxford
views updated Jun 08 2018bore2 tidal wave. XVII. of doubtful orig.; Cf. ON.
bára wave, billow.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
bore
oxford
views updated May 14 2018bore3 †ennui; †annoyance, nuisance; tiresome thing XVIII; tiresome person XIX. of unkn. orig. (references in XVIII to
French bore are unexplained).
Also as vb. XVIII.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD