bore

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"How do you know a bore is a pleasure to Mr. Dodd?"

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Definitions (49)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (13)

  1. transitive verb To make a hole in or through, with or as if with a drill.
  2. transitive verb To form (a tunnel, for example) by drilling, digging, or burrowing.
  3. intransitive verb To make a hole in or through something with or as if with a drill: "three types of protein that enable the cells to bore in and out of blood vessels” (Elisabeth Rosenthal).
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Examples (50)

  • I feared the less to be dubbed a bore, and I hesitated the less, perhaps, to impose upon good-nature, because of my firm conviction that one in a position to help the many was himself entitled to the help of the few. —  A Mind That Found Itself
  • You know the old saying that a bore is a person who wants to talk about himself when you want to talk about yourself . —  Father Payne
  • The small-bore means five or six buck destroyed for every one buck brought into camp; whereas with a rifle of decent bore, a 400-bore or 450-bore cordite Express, practically every animal hit is knocked over by the mere shock. —  Diary of a Soldier of Fortune
  • The first half was far from an enthralling affair but from the first whistle a hungrier, more dyanimic Liverpool were the only side who could have saved the game from being labelled a bore-draw. —  British Blogs
  • Speed is an integral part of Eric's game: if he doesn't have absolute confidence in his legs and so is not capable of going full-bore, then his effectiveness is vastly diminished - much more so than someone like, say, —  AZ Snakepit
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

tedious ·  dull ·  stupid ·  dreary ·  frustrate ·  embarrass ·  excite ·  monotonous ·  trivial ·  painful

Used in the same contextWord Family

bore:   bear ·  bearing ·  borne ·  bears
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (9)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Middle English boren, from Old English borian.
  2. Origin unknown.
  3. Middle English bare, wave, from Old Norse bāra; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (6)

  1. Early modern English also sometimes boar; from Middle English boren, borien, from Anglo-Saxon borian = Dutch boren = Old High German borōn, Middle High German born, German bohren = Icelandic bora = Swedish borra = Danish bore, bore, = Latin forāre, bore, perforate (see foramen, perforate), = Greek φαρᾶν, φαροῦν, plow: a secondary verb, from, or from the same root as, the formally more primitive noun, Anglo-Saxon bor (= Dutch boor = Middle Low German bor = German bohr = Icelandic borr = Swedish borr = Danish bor), an auger, gimlet; cf. Greek φάρος, a plow, connected with φάραγξ, a ravine, φάρυγξ, pharynx: see pharynx. See bore, n.
  2. In sense 1, from Middle English bore, from Anglo-Saxon bor (= Dutch boor, feminine, = Middle Low German bor, masculine, = Old High German bora, feminine, German bohr = Icelandic borr = Swedish borr, masculine, = Danish bor, neuter), an auger, a gimlet; in sense 3, from Middle English bore = Icelandic bora, a hole; in other senses directly from the verb: see bore, v.
  3. Early modern English also boar; boer; apparently from Middle English bare, a wave, billow (once, in doubtful use) (cf. French barre, a bore); prob. from Icelandic bāra = Norwegian baara, a billow caused by wind; cf. Swedish dial, bȧr, a hill, mound; prob. connected with Icelandic bera = English bear.
  4. This word, verb and noun (the noun in senses 1 and 2 apparently preceding the verb), came into use about the middle of the 18th century; usually considered a particular use of bore, and compared with German drillen, bore, drill, also bore, weary; but an immediate derivation from bore is philologically improbable, though it may be explained as a twist of fashionable slang (to which, indeed, the word has always belonged), perhaps resting on some forgotten anecdote. At any rate, the word is now independent of bore.
  5. See bore, v.
  6. English dial., short for borecole, q. v.
 

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/boʊr/
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