Dictionary
to•rus
Pronunciation: (tôr'us, tōr'-), [key]—
n.,
—pl. to•riPronunciation: (tôr'ī, tōr'ī). [key]
1. Archit. a large convex molding, more or less semicircular in profile, commonly forming the lowest molding of the base of a column, directly above the plinth, sometimes occurring as one of a pair separated by a scotia and fillets. See illus. at
molding and column.
2. Geom.
a. a doughnut-shaped surface generated by the revolution of a conic, esp. a circle, about an exterior line lying in its plane.
b. the solid enclosed by such a surface.
3. Bot.
a. the receptacle of a flower.
b. a thickening of the wall membrane in the bordered pits occurring in the tracheid cells of the wood of many conifers.
4. Anat.a rounded ridge; a protuberant part.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.