bore

¹

[ bawr ]

verb (used with object)

, bored, bor·ing.

1. to weary by dullness or sameness:

   The long speech bored me.

   Synonyms: annoy, tire, fatigue

   Antonyms: enrapture, thrill, amuse

noun

1. a dull, tiresome, or uncongenial person:

   He's such a bore that I'd rather stay home than go out with him.

2. a cause of inconvenience or petty annoyance:

   The job has a lot of repetitive tasks that are a bore to do.

bore

²

[ bawr ]

verb (used with object)

, bored, bor·ing.

1. to pierce (a solid substance) with some rotary cutting instrument.

   Synonyms: drill, perforate

2. to make (a hole) by drilling with such an instrument.
3. to form, make, or construct (a tunnel, mine, well, passage, etc.) by hollowing out, cutting through, or removing a core of material:

   to bore a tunnel through the Alps;

   to bore an oil well 3,000 feet deep.

4. Machinery. to enlarge (a hole) to a precise diameter with a cutting tool within the hole, by rotating either the tool or the work.
5. to force (an opening), as through a crowd, by persistent forward thrusting (usually followed by through or into ); to force or make (a passage).

verb (used without object)

, bored, bor·ing.

1. to make a hole in a solid substance with a rotary cutting instrument.
2. Machinery. to enlarge a hole to a precise diameter.
3. (of a substance) to admit of being bored:

   Certain types of steel do not bore well.

noun

1. a hole made or enlarged by boring.
2. the inside diameter of a hole, tube, or hollow cylindrical or conical object or device, such as a bushing or bearing, engine cylinder, musical wind instrument, or barrel of a gun.

   Synonyms: caliber

bore

³

[ bawr, bohr ]

noun

1. an abrupt rise of tidal water moving rapidly inland from the mouth of an estuary.

bore

⁴

[ bawr, bohr ]

verb

1. simple past tense of bear ¹.

bore

¹

/ bɔː /

noun

1. a high steep-fronted wave moving up a narrow estuary, caused by the tide

bore

²

/ bɔː /

verb

1. tr to tire or make weary by being dull, repetitious, or uninteresting

noun

1. a dull, repetitious, or uninteresting person, activity, or state

bore

³

/ bɔː /

verb

1. the past tense of bear 1

bore

⁴

/ bɔː /

verb

1. to produce (a hole) in (a material) by use of a drill, auger, or other cutting tool
2. to increase the diameter of (a hole), as by an internal turning operation on a lathe or similar machine
3. tr to produce (a hole in the ground, tunnel, mine shaft, etc) by digging, drilling, cutting, etc
4. informal.
   intr (of a horse or athlete in a race) to push other competitors, esp in order to try to get them out of the way

noun

1. a hole or tunnel in the ground, esp one drilled in search of minerals, oil, etc
2. 1. a circular hole in a material produced by drilling, turning, or drawing
   2. the diameter of such a hole
3. 1. the hollow part of a tube or cylinder, esp of a gun barrel
   2. the diameter of such a hollow part; calibre
4. an artesian well

bore

/ bôr /

1. In fluid mechanics, a jump in the level of moving water, generally propagating in the opposite direction to the current. Strong ocean tides can cause bores to propagate up rivers.
2. 1. The white, shallow portion of a wave after it breaks. The bore carries ocean water onto the beach.
   2. A tidal wave caused by the surge of a flood tide upstream in a narrowing estuary or by colliding tidal currents.

Derived Forms

• bored, adjective

Other Words From

• bore·a·ble bor·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bore¹

First recorded in 1760–70; of uncertain origin

Origin of bore²

First recorded before 900; Middle English bor(i)en, Old English borian; cognate with Old High German borōn, German bohren, Old Norse bora, Latin forāre

Origin of bore³

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English bare “a wave, billow,” from Old Norse bāra

Word History and Origins

Origin of bore¹

C17: from Old Norse bāra wave, billow

Origin of bore²

C18: of unknown origin

Origin of bore³

Old English borian ; related to Old Norse bora , Old High German borōn to bore, Latin forāre to pierce, Greek pharos ploughing, phárunx pharynx

Example Sentences

So for example, scrolling through social media when you are bored is the result of automatic response system, and putting your phone away to focus on work is enabled by the goal-directed control brain system.

From Science Daily

Zilbalodis would find it “quite boring” to go down that road.

From Los Angeles Times

In one scene, the kids attempt to watch a Christmas film as their parents had suggested, but they get so bored they turn it off within moments.

From BBC

I don’t know whether I would have been identified as gifted when I was a kid, but I certainly was bored out of my mind in elementary school.

From Los Angeles Times

"I forgot how boring president is," Austin said.

From Salon

Related Words

• annoy
• bother
• exhaust
• fatigue
• irk
• irritate
• jade
• tire
• worry