torch 1 of 2

noun

ˈtȯrch How to pronounce torch (audio)
Definition of torchnext
as in igniter
a person who deliberately and unlawfully sets fire to a building or other property several suspicious fires in the past few months have probably been set by the same torch

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torch

2 of 2

verb

as in to burn
to set (something) on fire police suspect that the owner torched the house for the insurance money

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of torch
Noun
Ancient viewers would have relied on beeswax and tallow candles, incense burners and torches. — Jacqueline Ortoleva, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2026 And even though Kurt retired from racing after being seriously injured in a hard crash in the summer of 2022, Kyle still carried the torch in their home city, ensuring the connection remained strong. — Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Verb
At least one car was torched in ​Strasbourg in ⁠the east and riot police clashed with youths in Toulouse in the southwest. — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Oct. 2026 The Eagles just got torched by Case Keenum, and yet Chad champions their upset of the Rams. — J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for torch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torch
  1. igniter
  2. burn
  3. arsonist
  4. light
  5. firebug
  6. fire
  7. ignite
  8. kindle
Noun
  • The most finicky part of the setup was actually inserting the battery for the igniter.
    — Noah Kaufman, Architectural Digest, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Engine starters, igniter plugs, launch pads, and controllers are all things that can cost you money.
    — Grace Dean, Space.com, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of igniter
Verb
  • The house took eight years to build on the property where the couple’s previous home burned during the 2018 Woolsey fire, along with Albuquerque’s studio, archive and many of her paintings.
    — Jane Horowitz, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The wall's stonework showed signs of fire damage, while archaeologists also uncovered burned seeds and the remains of a charred wooden building nearby.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of burn
Noun
  • On Tuesday, arsonists set ablaze at least three vehicles, including a taxi and a public bus, and armed men threatened merchants in broad daylight, plunging the city into fear.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • An arsonist was caught on video setting fire inside an apartment building in Detroit.
    — Karma Sabbah, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of arsonist
Verb
  • If Mick hadn’t come cruising into that playground, lights off?
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Rather than lighting an entire room, try task lighting like reading lamps, under-the-cabinet light strips, and desk lamps that illuminate a workspace.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of light
Noun
  • An arson fire destroys the 43-year-old Globe Theatre on March 8 (the arsonist was never caught, but a firebug had set several blazes in the park that winter).
    — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2025
  • In video released by police, the firebug could be seen setting fire to a small pile of trash next to the head of a sleeping passenger stretched out on the seat.
    — Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 12 Feb. 2025
Definition of firebug
Verb
  • Martin Zummach, an attorney who represents the officer who fired the shot that killed Kohen, says the attorney general's findings cleared his client of criminal wrongdoing.
    — SOPHIE BATES, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
  • As neurons fire furiously over the course of the day, ROS can accumulate.
    — Rowan Jacobsen, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of fire
Verb
  • In modern nuclear weapons, conventional explosives set off a fission reaction—the splitting of big atoms—whose intensity then ignites a fusion reaction that combines light atoms.
    — Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • When the tin fog is ignited, the explosion produces a plasma fifty times hotter than the surface of the sun.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of ignite
Verb
  • This complicates things for Teagan, who has begun to kindle something with Cam.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Now that fall is on the horizon, hope has been kindled for abundant rainfall.
    — Robert Klose, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of kindle

Phrases Containing torch

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Cite this Entry

“Torch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torch. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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