to p se |cret ADJ [usu ADJ n] Top secret information or activity is intended to be kept completely secret, for example in order to prevent a country's enemies from finding out about it. □ The top secret documents had to do with the most advanced military equipment.
top|side /tɒ psa I d/ (topsides )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Topside is a joint of beef that is cut from the upper part of the cow's leg. It is usually cooked by roasting or stewing. [BRIT ] in AM, use top round 2 ADV [ADV after v] On a ship, if you go topside , you go up onto the top deck. [TECHNICAL ] □ He left the control station and went topside.
3 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The topside or topsides of a ship or boat are the top deck or the parts which you can see above the water. [TECHNICAL ]
top|soil /tɒ psɔ I l/ N‑UNCOUNT Topsoil is the layer of soil nearest the surface of the ground.
topsy-turvy /tɒ psi tɜː r vi/ ADJ Something that is topsy-turvy is in a confused or disorganized state. [INFORMAL ] □ The world has turned topsy-turvy in my lifetime.
to p-up (top-ups )
1 N‑COUNT A top-up is another serving of a drink in the same glass that you have just used. [BRIT ]
2 ADJ [ADJ n] A top-up loan or payment is added to an amount of money in order to bring it up to a required level. [BRIT ] □ Student grants will be frozen at existing levels and top-up loans made available.
torch /tɔː r tʃ/ (torches , torching , torched )
1 N‑COUNT A torch is a small electric light which is powered by batteries and which you can carry in your hand. [BRIT ] in AM, use flashlight 2 N‑COUNT A torch is a long stick with burning material at one end, used to provide light or to set things on fire. □ They lit a torch and set fire to the chapel's thatch.
3 N‑COUNT A torch is a device that produces a hot flame and is used for tasks such as cutting or joining pieces of metal. □ The gang worked for up to ten hours with acetylene torches to open the vault.
4 → see also blowtorch
5 VERB If someone torches a building or vehicle, they set fire to it deliberately. □ [V n] The rioters torched the local library.
6 PHRASE If you say that someone is carrying a torch for someone else, you mean that they secretly admire them or love them. □ He has always carried a torch for Barbara.
7 PHRASE If you say that someone is carrying the torch of a particular belief or movement, you mean that they are working hard to ensure that it is not forgotten and continues to grow stronger. □ [+ for/of ] This group aims to carry the torch for the thousands who died.
torch|light /tɔː r tʃla I t/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft by N , N n] If you do something by torchlight , you do it using the light that is produced by a torch or torches. □ Surgeons are performing operations in tents by torchlight.
to rch song (torch songs ) N‑COUNT A torch song is a sentimental popular song about love, usually sung by a woman.
tore /tɔː r / Tore is the past tense of tear .
tor|ment (torments , tormenting , tormented ) The noun is pronounced /tɔː r ment/. The verb is pronounced /tɔː r me nt/. 1 N‑UNCOUNT Torment is extreme suffering, usually mental suffering. □ [+ of ] The torment of having her baby kidnapped is written all over her face.
2 N‑COUNT A torment is something that causes extreme suffering, usually mental suffering. □ [+ of ] Sooner or later most writers end up making books about the torments of being a writer.
3 VERB If something torments you, it causes you extreme mental suffering. □ [V n] At times the memories returned to torment her.
4 VERB If you torment a person or animal, you annoy them in a playful, rather cruel way for your own amusement. □ [V n] My older brother and sister used to torment me by singing it to me.
tor|men|tor /tɔː r me ntə r / (tormentors ) N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Someone's tormentor is a person who deliberately causes them physical or mental pain. □ …cases where women subjected to years of brutality lose control and kill their tormentors.
torn /tɔː r n/
1 Torn is the past participle of tear .
2 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are torn between two or more things, you cannot decide which to choose, and so you feel anxious or troubled. □ [+ between ] Robb is torn between becoming a doctor and a career in athletics.
tor|na|do /tɔː r ne I doʊ/ (tornadoes or tornados ) N‑COUNT A tornado is a violent wind storm consisting of a tall column of air which spins round very fast and causes a lot of damage.
tor|pe|do /tɔː r piː doʊ/ (torpedoes , torpedoing , torpedoed )
1 N‑COUNT A torpedo is bomb that is shaped like a tube and that travels under water.
2 VERB [usu passive] If a ship is torpedoed , it is hit, and usually sunk, by a torpedo or torpedoes. □ [be V -ed] More than a thousand people died when the Lusitania was torpedoed.
3 VERB If someone torpedoes negotiations or plans, they deliberately prevent them from being completed or from being successful. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n] These attacks are seen as an effort to torpedo the talks.
tor|pid /tɔː r p I d/ ADJ If you are torpid , you are mentally or physically inactive, especially because you are feeling lazy or sleepy. [FORMAL ]
tor|por /tɔː r pə r / N‑UNCOUNT [oft a N ] Torpor is the state of being completely inactive mentally or physically, for example because of illness or laziness. [FORMAL ] □ He had slumped into a state of torpor from which nothing could rouse him. □ The sick person gradually falls into a torpor.