carry a torch for

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

torch¹ /tɔrtʃ/   n. 

[countable]
1. a light, made of a stick of wood or some other substance, lighted at the upper end.
2. something thought of as a source of knowledge or guidance:
   the torch of learning.
3. any of various devices producing a hot flame, used for soldering, etc.;
   a blowtorch
4. [Slang.] an arsonist.
5. British Terms [Chiefly Brit.] flashlight (def. 1).

v. [~ + object]

6. Slang Terms to set fire to, esp. with evil intention:
   Before the police arrested him he had torched five buildings.

Idioms

7. Idioms carry a or the torch for, [carry + a/the + ~ + for + object] to be in love with, esp. without being loved in return:
   All those years he carried a torch for her, but he never told her and she never knew.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

torch¹ (tôrch),  n. 

1. a light to be carried in the hand, consisting of some combustible substance, as resinous wood, or of twisted flax or the like soaked with tallow or other flammable substance, ignited at the upper end.
2. something considered as a source of illumination, enlightenment, guidance, etc.:
   the torch of learning.
3. any of various lamplike devices that produce a hot flame and are used for soldering, burning off paint, etc.
4. [Slang.] an arsonist.
5. [Chiefly Brit.] flashlight (def. 1).
6. carry the or a torch for, [Slang.] to be in love with, esp. to suffer from unrequited love for:
   He still carries a torch for his ex-wife.

v.i. 

7. to burn or flare up like a torch.

v.t. 

8. to subject to the flame or light of a torch, as in order to burn, sear, solder, or illuminate.
9. [Slang.] to set fire to maliciously, esp. in order to collect insurance.

• Vulgar Latin *torca something twisted. See torque
• Old French
• Middle English torche (noun, nominal) 1250–1300

torch ′a•ble, adj. 
torch ′less, adj. 
torch ′like′, adj. 

torch² (tôrch), v.t. 

1. to point (the joints between roofing slates) with a mixture of lime and hair.

• French torcher to plaster with a mixture of clay and chopped straw, derivative of torche a twist of straw. See torch¹
• 1840–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

torch / tɔːtʃ/ noun

1. a small portable electric lamp powered by one or more dry batteries
   US and Canadian word: flashlight
2. a wooden or tow shaft dipped in wax or tallow and set alight
3. anything regarded as a source of enlightenment, guidance, etc
4. any apparatus that burns with a hot flame for welding, brazing, or soldering
5. carry a torch for ⇒ to be in love with, esp unrequitedly

verb

1. (transitive) to set fire to, esp deliberately as an act of arson

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French torche handful of twisted straw, from Vulgar Latin torca (unattested), from Latin torquēre to twist