tormentil 
usually but four petal*. The plant has a thick and woody 
CiTi-nnml niot.sioi-k, which is Highly astringent: It l used 
i medicine, uud also sometimes in tanning. It contain- 
besides an avstihitilr red coloring muttrr, iisnl by th- l-:ip- 
landers U) dye the skins wuru liy them us rlnthmi:. Also 
called MiM'itrutit, *eptf<iil, and aheplterti's-kiiut. 
This i"> ii-xtil, whose virtue is to part 
All deadly killinx |>oison from the heart. 
m.-l.fr, faithful Shepherded, II. 2. 
Tormentilla (tor-inen-til'ii), w. [NL. (Toimif- 
fort, 1700; earlier in Bruiifels, 15:tO), < ML. t,,r- 
iniiitillii: IMtDTMMttt.] 1. A former gi-nus of 
|il:iiiis. now reduced to a section of 1'otrntillti, 
including Iliiise sptM'ics which have the parts of 
the flowers in fours. The tonnentil belong to 
this section. 2. [/. c.] A plant of this subge- 
mis; tormentil. 
This single yellow flower ... is a tnnnentilla, which Is 
good against the plague. 
J. II. ShorthouM, John Inglesant, 111. 
tormentingly (tor-meu'ting-li), adv. In a tor- 
menting mninier; in a manner productive of 
suffering. 
lie bounst and bet his head tormentinaly. 
(JaKoiyne, Dan Bartholomew of Bath. 
tormentingness (tor-men'ting-nes), n. The 
quality of being tormenting. Bailey, 1727. 
tormentiset, [ME., < torment, v.] Torment; 
torture. 
This Seneca the wyse 
Chees in a bath to deye in this maiiere 
Rather than nan another trrrmeiityae. 
Chaucer, Monk's Tale, 1. 827. 
tormentor (t&r-men'tor), n. [< ME. tormentour, 
turmentour, < OF. * tormentour = Sp. tormenta- 
dor, < ML. 'tormentator (cf. tormentarius), a tor- 
turer^ tormentare, torment: see torment, r.] 1. 
One who or that which torments. Especially- (a) 
One whose office it is to Inflict torture ; an executioner. 
Then the lorde wonder loude laled & cryed, 
& talkez to his tormenttaurez : "taker hym," he blddez, 
" Byndez byhynde, at his bak, bothe two his handez, . . . 
Stik h> in stifly in stokez." 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 164. 
Thre strokes in the nekke he smoot hlr tho, 
The tormentour. Chaucer, Second Nun's Tale, 1. 527. 
(b) One who or that which causes pain or anguish ; a cause 
of suffering or great distress. 
These words hereafter thy tarmentort be ! 
Shalt., Klch. II., 11. 1. 136. 
Louis XI., whose closeness was indeed his tormentor. 
Bacon, Friendship (ed. 1887). 
2. In agri., an instrument for reducing a stiff 
soil. It is somewhat like a harrow, but runs on wheels, 
and each tine is furnished with a hoe or share that cuts 
up the ground. 
3. A long fork used by a ship's cook to take meat 
out of the coppers. 4. In theatrical use, one of 
the elaborately painted wings which stand in 
the first grooves. 5. Same as back-scratcher. 
Also tormenter. 
tormentress (tdr-men'tres), . [< tnrmentor + 
-ess.] A woman who torments. 
Fortune ordinarily commeth after to whip and punish 
them, as the scourge and tormfiitrestie of glorie and honour. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, ixvlli 4. 
tormentryt, [ME. tormentrie; < torment + 
-ry.] Affliction; distress. 
If she be riche and of heigh parage, 
Than seistow it is a tormentrie 
To soffren hire pride and hire malencolle. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 261. 
tormentum (tor-men'tum), n. ; pi. tomnentu 
(-ta). [L. : see torment.] 1. Anciently, a kind 
of catapult having many forms. 2. A light 
piece of ordnance. 3. A whirligig. 
Restless as a whirling tormentum. 
Carlyle, In Froude, Life In London, v. 
4. In med., a name formerly applied to obstruc- 
tive intestinal disorders, probably specifically 
to intussusception. 
tormina (tor'mi-na), n. pi. [NL., < L. tormina, 
griping pains, < iorquere, twist, wrench: see 
tort 1 . C'f. torment.] Severe griping pains in 
the bowels; gripes; colic. 
tormina! (tor'mi-nal), a. Same as torminous. 
torminous (tor'mi-nus), a. [< tormina + -ous.] 
Affected with tormina ; characterized by grip- 
ing pains. 
tormodont (t6r'mo-dont), a. [< Gr. rdpfios, a 
hole or socket, + oioif (oeSovr-) = E. tooth.] 
Socketed, as teeth; having socketed teeth, as 
a bird. See Odontotorma;. 
They differ from recent Carinate birds in degree only, 
viz., by their tormodont teeth and amphico3lous vertebnc. 
Suture, XXXIX. 178. 
torn 1 (torn), p. a. [Pp. of tear 1 .] In hot., 
having deep and irregular marginal incisions, 
as if produced by tearing; lacerate. 
torn 2 (t6rn), . If. A Middle English form of 
turn. 2. In her., a bearing representing an aii- 
eient spinning-wheel. 
8391 
tornadet 
nailci. /; 
d' '. . 
i,,,-n<u\n. \ A tr- 
Inured In danger's direst form, 
Tnnuiil, and earthquake. Hood and storm. 
Scott, Rokeby, I. K. 
tornadic (t<">r-nad'ik), a. [< tornado + -it-.] 
Pertaining to, characteristic of, or of the na- 
ture of a tornado. 
Four series of storms of tornadic character have passed 
over the .states east of the Miululppl River since the 
beginning of the year. Amer. Meteor. Jour., 1. 7. 
tornado (tor-na'do), N. ; pi. tornailoes (-ddz). 
[With the common change of terminal -a to -o, to 
give the word a more Spanish look (also some- 
times tin -mill, I, < Sp. (and Pg.) tornado, a return, 
or turning about (applied appar. at one time by 
Spanish and Portuguese sailors to a whirling 
wind at sea), < toru'jr, turn, < L. tornari', turn : 
see (urn. The Pg. name is travado; the Sp. 
name is turbonada.] A violent squall or whirl- 
wind of small extent. 
They were all together in a plumpeon Christmasse eve 
was two yere, when the great flouu was, and there stird 
up such ternadon and furlcanos of tempests. 
Xaihe, Lenten Stulfe (Harl. Misc., VI. 164). 
We had flne weather while we lay here, only some tor- 
nadoei, or thunder-showers. Dampier, Voyages, an. 1681. 
Specifically (o) On the west coast of Africa, from Cape 
Vend to the equator, a squall of great intensity and of 
short duration, occurring during the summer months, 
but most frequently and with greatest violence at the 
beginning and end of the rainy season. On the western 
part of the coast, near Sierra Leone, these squalls come 
from easterly points, and blow off shore; while on the 
eastern part of the coast, near the mouth of the Niger, 
they occasionally blow on shore, partly became of a 
variation In the direction of the squall, and partly be- 
cause of a different trend of the coast. The squall Is 
marked by peculiar, dense, arched masses of dark cloud, 
furious gusts of wind, vivid lightning, deafening thunder, 
and torrents of rain ; it produces a slight rise in the barom- 
eter and a fall of temperature amounting on the average 
to 9 Fahr. Similar squalls In other tropical regions are 
usually known by the name of arched mualls, but are 
sometimes also called tornadoet. The principal period 
when these squalls occur (namely, at the change of the 
seasons or of the monsoons) is that in which great quan- 
tities of vapor-laden air are stopped by a land-wind, and 
accumulate near the coast, producing a hot, sultry, un- 
stable state of the atmosphere. The tornado Is the over- 
turning process by which the atmosphere regains Its sta- 
bility. The wind ordinarily turns through two or three 
points during Its progress, but in general a complete 
cyclonic motion U not established. (6) In the I'nited 
States, ast of the 100th meridian, a whirlwind of small 
radius and of highly destructive violence, usually seen as 
a whirling funnel pendent from a mass of black cloud, oc- 
curring most frequently in the southeast quadrant of an 
area of low pressure several hundred miles from Its cen- 
ter, and having a rapid progressive movement, generally 
toward the northeast. The principal condition precedent 
to the formation of a tornado, just as for a thunder-storm, 
Is an unstable state of the atmosphere. In the tornado a 
whirling motion from right to left, of tremendous energy, 
Is generated In a mass of clouds, and is often maintained 
for several hours, while in the ordinary thunder-storm a 
complete cyclonic motion probably seldom becomes estab- 
lished. Tornadoes generally arise just after the hottest 
part of the day, when the atmosphere has its maximum 
instability; the months of greatest frequency are April, 
May, June, and July. The destruction in a tornado may 
be caused either by the surface wind which is forced in on 
all sides to feed the ascending current of the tornado-fun- 
nel, or by the gyrating winds of the funnel Itself when 
sufficiently low to come within the reach of buildings ; in 
the latter case no structure, however strongly built, is 
apparently able to withstand the wind's enormous force. 
tornaria (tor-na'ri-a), n. JTNL., < tornu*, a lathe 
(see turn), + -aria.] The echinopffidic-like 
larva of Balanoglossus, bearing a great resem- 
blance to the larvsa of some of the echinoderms, 
as starfishes ; originally the name of a pseudo- 
genus, retained to designate the objects defined. 
See Balanoglossiis (with cut). 
tornarian (tor-na'ri-an), o. [< tornaria + -an.] 
Of or pertaining to a tornaria; resembling the 
larva of lialanoglossus. 
Tornatella (tdr-na-tel'a), n. [NL. (Lamarck, 
1812), (. L. tornatus, turned in a 
lathe, < tornare, turn (see turn), 
+ dim. term, -ella.] The typical 
genus of the family Tornatellidee : 
same as Actteon. 
Tornatellidffl (tor-na-tel'i-de), n. 
pi. [NL., < Tornatella + -idle.] 
That family of opisthobranchiate 
gastropods whose type genus is 
Tornatella, having a developed spi- TomaMia tr. 
ral sheH : same as Actseonidx. 
torn-crenate (torn'kre'nat), a. In bpt., eremite 
in having the margin torn, as certain lichens. 
torn-down (torn'doun), a. and n. I. a. Rough ; 
riotous; turbulent; rebellious; ungovernable; 
hence, overpowering of its kind. [Prov. Eng. 
and U. S.] 
Yon know I was a girl onst ; led the General a dance of 
it, I tell you. Yes, a real torn-down piece I was ! 
IT. M. Baker, New Timothy, joudi. 
torpedo 
E[. ii. An unrulv or unmanageable person. 
[Prov. Eng. and I"'. S. ] 
torneamentt, . An obsolete form of touniu- 
Itifn t . 
tornilla, tornillo (tor-nil'jl, -6), n. [Mexican 
imiiif, < Sp. Ini-iiil/ii. ii si-ri'W. dim. of torno, turn, 
iuriiin^-whi'fl : MM- turn. ] Tin- crew-pod mes- 
quit. St-c in' ^i/inl-. 
torniquet, . SIM tuiirniiiiiet. 
tomography (t6r-nog'ra-fi), n. [Irreg. < lar- 
ntinlii i + i ir. -; im<j>iu, < fpA^fuo, write.] The de- 
scription and theory of tornadoes. [Rare.] 
toroot, ''. '. l-MK. liirobben; < to-* + robl.] To 
steal wholly ; take entirely away. 
My yoye, myn herte ye all to-robbydd, 
The chylde ys dedd that soke tnjr bretto ! 
MS. Cantab. Ft. II. 38, f. 47. (HaUiarelt.) 
toroidal (U)-roi'dal),a. [< toreb, torus, + -oid + 
-at.] Having a snape like an anchor-ring, or a 
surface generated by the revolution of a circle 
about a line in its plane ; pertaining to such a 
surface, or to a family of such surfaces. To- 
roidal function. See function. 
torose (to'ros), a. Same as lorous. 
torosity (to-ros'i-ti), n. [< torose + -ity.] The 
state of being torous; muscular strength ; mus- 
cularity. Bailey, 1727. 
torotorb (to'ro-to'ro), n. [Native name.] A 
Papuan kingfisher, Syma torotoro. 
torous (to'rus), a. [< L. Urrosus, full of muscle 
or flesh, < torus, a bulging, a protuberance, 
muscle: see torus.] Bulging; swelling; mus- 
cular. Specifically (a) In ftnt. cylindrical, with bulges 
or constrictions at Intervals; swelling in knolis at Inter- 
vals. (6) In zooi., protuberant; knobbed; tnberculated. 
Also torote. 
tor-ouzel (tor'C'zl), n. The ring-ouzel. [Dev- 
onshire, Eng.] 
TqrpedinidsB (t6r-pe-din'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Torpedo (-<lin-) + -idle.] A family of batoid 
fishes, typified by the genus Torpedo ; the elec- 
tric rays, noted for their power of giving shocks 
by means of a sort of galvanic Dattery with 
which they are provided. In this respect the elec- 
tric rays are peculiar among elasmobranchs, though some 
fishes of a different class are provided with similar organs 
(the electric eels and electric catflshes). The torpedoes are 
large rays, of 6 genera and about 15 species, found in most 
seas. The trunk is broad and smooth ; the tail compara- 
tively short, with a rayed caudal flu and commonly two 
rayed dorsals, the ttrst of which is over or behind the ven- 
trals. The electric organs are a pair, one on each side of 
the trunk anteriorly, between the pectoral fins and the 
head. See cuts under torpedo. 
torpedinoid (tor-ped'i-noid), a. [< NL. Tor- 
pedinoidea, q. v.J Of the nature of the elec- 
tric ray ; related or belonging to the Torpedi- 
noidea' 
Torpedinoidea (tdr-ped-i-noi'de-il), n. pi. [NL., 
< Tor]>edo(-din-} + Or. elSof, form, resemblance.] 
The electric rays, rated as a superfamily con- 
trasted with Raioidea and Pristoidea. 
torpedinous (tflr-ped'i-nus), a. [< L. torpedo 
(-din-), torpedo, + -ous.] Shocking or benumb- 
ing like a tor- 
pedo. [Rare.] 
Fishy were his 
eyes, torpeitiiioun 
was his manner. 
De Quincey. 
[(Imp. Diet.) 
torpedo (tdr- 
pe ' do), . ; 
pi. torpedoes 
(-doz). [For- 
merly also tor- 
psedo, torpi- 
do; = Sp. Pg. 
torpedo = It. 
torpedine (cf. 
P. tori>ille = 
It. torpiglia), 
a torpedo, 
cramp-fish, <L. 
tor}>edo, numb- 
ness, also 
a torpedo, 
cramp-fish, < 
torpere, be- 
numb: see tor- 
rnt, torpid.] 
A fish of the 
genus Torpedo or family Torpedi nidx ; an elec- 
tric ray; a cramp-fish or numb-fish. 
Tarpido Is a flsshe, but who-so handeleth hym shalbe 
lame it defe of lymmes, that be shall fele no thyng. 
Babeet Boot (E. E. T. S.). p. 239. 
The Torptedo or Cramp-fish came also to oar hands, but 
we were amazed (not knowing that flsh but by its quality) 
when a sudden trembling seated on us : a device It has to 
Torpedo, it* electric apparatus displayed. 
, branchi2 ; f, brain ; t, electric organ : 
g. cranium ; me, spinal cord ; n. nerves to 
pectoral fin*-: N/, lateral nerves ; i,/, branches 
of pneumogastric to the electric organ ; 9, eye. 
