US /ˈtɔrsoʊ/ UK /ˈtɔːsəʊ/
noun Freq #13515

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    the central part of the human body, excluding the head, neck, and limbs

    The life jacket should fit snugly around the torso.

  2. 2
    noun

    the trunk of a statue, especially one surviving or represented without its head and limbs

    The gallery displayed a marble torso recovered from the ruined temple.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · the central part of the... trunk
2 noun · the trunk of a statue,... trunktorse
Word family
Related forms bustchestabdomenlimb

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian torso ("trunk, stump"), from Late Latin tursus and Latin thyrsus, ultimately Greek thyrsos ("stalk, stem"). English first used it for the trunk of a statue, then for the central part of a living body.

Topics

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