torcher

English

Etymology

From torch +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔɹt͡ʃɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tʃə(ɹ)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: torture
• Hyphenation: torch‧er

Noun

torcher (plural torchers)

1. One who torches something.

   The torchers of buildings must be dealt with.

2. (obsolete) One who gives light with a torch, or as if with a torch.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , line 162:

     Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring
     Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring, […]

3. (music) A torch song
   • 1988 August 26, Neil Tesser, “Montgomery, Plant & Stritch”, in Chicago Reader‎:

     […] their set includes a Patsy Cline torcher and reaches some sort of peak with a 29-song Irving Berlin medley.

4. (science fiction) The pilot of a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion).

References

• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “torcher, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

French

Etymology

From torche +‎ -er. The vulgar sense is from the notion of wiping one's posterior after defecating.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔʁ.ʃe/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

torcher

1. to wipe with a cloth to remove dirt

   Torcher les assiettes.

   To wipe the plates.

2. to flare (to burn off excess gas at a petroleum drilling site)
3. (slang) to churn out

   Synonym: bâcler

4. (vulgar, reflexive) not to care, not to give a fuck

   Je me torche de ce qu’il en pense!

   I don't give a fuck what he thinks about it!

Conjugation

Derived terms

• torchage
• torche-cul
• torchée
• torcheur
• torchon

Further reading

• “torcher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition