bore
bore — verb
1. to say or do things that leave someone no longer interested, so they stop paying
to say or do things that leave someone no longer interested, so they stop paying attention.
Theo bored the table with a twenty-minute story about printer ink.
bore + somebody + with + topic
During lunch, the guide bored us by reading every museum rule aloud.
bore + somebody + by + -ing
The speaker soon bored the children, so they stared out the window.
One more slide full of numbers will bore the whole class.
- bore the audience
- bore people with stories
- bore us by talking too long
- bore the class
Grammar Patterns
bore + somebody
bore + somebody + with + topic
bore + somebody + by + -ing
Usage Note
Object is usually the person who loses interest. English often adds 'with' for the dull topic or 'by + -ing' for the boring action.
Common Mistakes
2. to make someone become very bored, especially when a person or activity continue
to make someone become very bored, especially when a person or activity continues for too long.
The safety video bored new staff after the first five minutes.
inanimate subject causing boredom
Rainy afternoons at the empty shop sometimes bore Ines to tears.
bore + somebody + to tears
That same joke will bore your friends if you repeat it nightly.
By August, the slow card game had bored the cousins stiff.
bore + somebody + stiff
- bore someone to tears
- bore someone stiff
- bore the children
- bore your friends
Grammar Patterns
bore + somebody + to tears
bore + somebody + stiff
bore + somebody + to death
Usage Note
Common with strong endings such as 'to tears', 'stiff', and 'to death'. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense emphasizes the heavy effect on the listener, not the boring behaviour itself.
Common Mistakes
3. to cut or drill a deep round opening through something, or to make such an openi
to cut or drill a deep round opening through something, or to make such an opening go farther in.
The worker bored a neat hole through the wooden gate.
bore + a hole + through + surface
Huge machines bored under the street all winter.
intransitive use with place phrase
Engineers bored into the hillside to check the rock below.
The crew bored a well behind the school for clean water.
bore + a well
- bore a hole
- bore through wood
- bore into rock
- bore a well
Grammar Patterns
bore + a hole
bore + through + surface
bore + into/under + place
bore + a well
Usage Note
Often followed by 'through', 'into', or 'under' to show where the opening goes. The object can be the hole itself, the surface being drilled, or a well being made.
Common Mistakes
4. the simple past form of the verb 'bear'.
the simple past form of the verb 'bear'.
Leila bore the long wait calmly outside the clinic.
past tense of bear meaning endure
The old tree bore red apples through late October.
past tense of bear meaning produce
The ticket bore seat numbers in thick black ink.
past tense of bear meaning carry/show
That bridge once bore farm trucks across the river daily.
past tense of bear meaning support
- bore the pain
- bore fruit
- bore a name
- bore the weight
Grammar Patterns
bore + noun
bore + fruit
bore + a name/mark
bore + weight
Usage Note
Used only as the simple past of 'bear'. For the usual past participle meaning 'carried' or 'endured', English normally uses 'borne'; for birth, it usually uses 'born'.
Common Mistakes
bore — noun
1. a person who keeps talking about uninteresting things or says far too much, so o
a person who keeps talking about uninteresting things or says far too much, so other people want the conversation to end.
Everyone avoided sitting beside Colin, who was a terrible bore.
a terrible bore
At family dinners, Uncle Ned becomes a bore after two glasses of wine.
become a bore
The new clerk looked friendly online but turned out a complete bore.
At dinner, even smart guests seem a bore when they never ask questions.
- a terrible bore
- such a bore
- a complete bore
- become a bore
- live wire
an energetic, exciting person
- good company
someone pleasant and interesting to spend time with
Grammar Patterns
a bore
such a bore
a complete/terrible bore
Usage Note
Used for people, not for talks, films, or events. It often follows 'be', 'become', or 'seem' and is commonly strengthened by words like 'terrible' and 'complete'.
Common Mistakes
2. a task or situation that feels very boring and annoying.
a task or situation that feels very boring and annoying.
Sorting old receipts by hand is a real bore.
-ing subject + be a bore
It's a bore to copy thirty addresses into the school form.
it + be a bore + to-infinitive
The three-hour safety talk was a bore for new drivers.
Cooking is fun, but washing greasy pans is a bore.
- a real bore
- be a bore to do
- be a bore doing something
- such a bore
Grammar Patterns
be a bore
-ing ... is a bore
it is a bore to-infinitive
Usage Note
Common after 'be', especially with an -ing clause or 'to + verb'. Distinguish from noun sense 1: this sense names a dull activity or situation, not a dull person.
Common Mistakes
3. the hollow space running through a tube, pipe, or barrel, or the measurement of
the hollow space running through a tube, pipe, or barrel, or the measurement of how wide that inside space is.
This metal pipe has a wider bore than the old plastic one.
wide/narrow bore for diameter
The mechanic measured the engine bore before ordering new parts.
technical measurement use
Sand had filled the bore of the garden hose.
the bore of + object
In this coffee filter, a narrow bore slows the water.
- a wide bore
- engine bore
- the bore of a pipe
- narrow bore
Grammar Patterns
the bore of + tube/pipe
a wide/narrow bore
Usage Note
Usually found in technical talk about pipes, engines, guns, and needles. It may name the inner hollow itself or the diameter measured across that hollow.
Common Mistakes
4. a strong wall of water that rushes from the sea into a narrow river when the tid
a strong wall of water that rushes from the sea into a narrow river when the tide turns.
Crowds gathered by the Severn to watch the spring bore.
watch the bore
The river bore raced upstream faster than the fishing boats.
river bore moving upstream
Warning signs went up before the bore reached the village bridge.
Photographers waited at dawn for the year's highest bore.
- the Severn bore
- spring bore
- watch the bore
- the bore reached the bridge
- tidal wave
broader and less exact; often used loosely in everyday speech
- surge
focuses on a sudden rush of water, not this specific river pattern
Grammar Patterns
watch the bore
the [river] bore
spring bore
Usage Note
Mostly found in geography, weather, and travel contexts. It often appears with a river name or a season word, as in 'the Severn bore' or 'spring bore'.
Common Mistakes
bore — suffix
1. added after a word for size to make an adjective describing the inside width of
added after a word for size to make an adjective describing the inside width of a tube, pipe, or gun barrel.
The hunter cleaned his small-bore rifle at the kitchen table.
[size word]-bore with guns
A narrow-bore tube carried rainwater from the roof.
[size word]-bore with tubes
The workshop fitted a wide-bore pipe behind the washing machines.
Only standard-bore tubing fits the gas line on this old camping stove.
standard-bore + tubing
- small-bore rifle
- wide-bore pipe
- narrow-bore tube
- standard-bore barrel
Grammar Patterns
[size word]-bore
Usage Note
Placed after a size or width word and normally joined with a hyphen, as in 'small-bore' and 'wide-bore'. Most common with guns, pipes, tubes, and other hollow parts.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
For verb sense 1, 'bore' is the best word when someone's words or behaviour make another person lose interest. 'Tire' is broader: it can mean mental boredom, but also simple tiredness after work or travel. 'Weary' is more formal and usually suggests a long, wearing effect rather than one dull speech or lesson. 'Dull' is common as an adjective, but as a verb it is less usual in everyday conversation and often means making something less lively or sharp. 'Drone on' shifts the focus from the listener's reaction to the speaker's long, monotonous talking. A teacher can bore a class with too many facts, while an uncle can drone on about his old car for an hour.
Etymology
Modern 'bore' gathers together more than one history. The drilling verb and the noun for a hollow inside something go back to Old English 'borian', meaning 'to pierce or drill', with related Germanic forms behind it. The suffix meaning a certain inside width grew out of that same noun in technical compounds such as 'small-bore'. The river-wave sense seems to come from a later North Sea or Scandinavian word for a wave or surge. Separately, 'bore' is also the ordinary past-tense form of 'bear', from Old English 'beran'. So one spelling now covers both the idea of drilling a hole and an unrelated past form of another verb.