bore

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make someone feel tired and uninterested.

   His long stories about work bore everyone at the table.

2. 2
   verb

   To make a hole in something using a tool or by digging.

   They bored a deep hole to reach the water.

Simplified etymology

Three different words are spelled bore. The verb meaning “to make a hole” is Old English. The tidal bore may come from Old Norse bára, meaning “wave”; bore meant “billow” or “wave” in Middle English but has had its modern tidal sense only since the early 17th century. The bore associated with tediousness dates from the mid-18th century, but its origin is unknown.

From Middle English boren, from Old English borian (“to pierce”), from Proto-West Germanic *borōn, from Proto-Germanic *burōną. Compare Danish bore, Norwegian Bokmål bore, Dutch boren, German bohren, Old Norse bora. Cognate with Latin forō (“to bore, to pierce”), Latin feriō (“strike, cut”) and Albanian birë (“hole”). Sense of wearying may come from a figurative use such as "to bore the ears"; compare German drillen.

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