Also 6 Sc. boir, 7 boar(e. [Partly f. BORE v.1; but in senses 1–4 it may be partly adoption of, or cogn. w., ON. bora wk. fem. ‘bore-hole’:—OTeut. *borôn- (the corresp. form *bore is not recorded in OE.; the equivalent OHG. bora, Du. boor fem., agree in meaning with 5); and in sense 5:—OE. bor ‘borer, gimlet’ = ON. bor-r:—OTeut. *boro-z: see BORE v.1]
I. That which is bored.
1. A hole made by boring, a perforation; an aperture (irrespective of shape), a chink, crevice or cranny; in later use chiefly an auger hole, or other cylindrical perforation. Obs. or arch.
c. 1320. Seuyn Sag., 1156. Water hi can stop That hit ne mai nowt bi bores drop.
a. 1400. Cov. Myst., 319. We xal se Yf the borys be for hym meet.
1430. Lydg., Chron. Troy, II. xx. That cowardise ne entre at no bore.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 3. A pynne put throughe, set in the plough-beame, in an augurs bore.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 515. Out throw ane boir quhair he mycht rycht weill see.
1654. Trapp, Comm. Job xxxiii. 16. He openeth the ears of men, He maketh the bore bigger.
1718. Arbuthnot, in Swift’s Lett., II. 2. He has shortened his stirrups three bores.
1785. Burns, Jolly Begg., 52. Frighted rattons … seek the benmost bore.
b. Blue bore: an opening in the clouds showing the blue sky. Sc. Also fig.
1639. R. Baillie, Lett. & Jrnls. (1841), I. 207 (Jam.). This style please us well. It was the first blew bore that did appear in our cloudie sky.
c. 1817. Hogg, Tales & Sk., III. 241. All at once a lovely ‘blue bore’ … opened in the cloud behind.
† c. Applied to the wounds of Christ. ’S bores, a profane oath = God’s wounds, ZOUNDS. Obs.
1640. Brome, Sparagus Gard., IV. iii. Wks. 1873, III. 179. No, no, no not I; s’bores I bit my tongue too hard.
d. Sc. ‘To wick a bore in curling and cricket is to drive a stone or ball dexterously through an opening between two guards.’ Jamieson s.v. Wick.
1786. Burns, Tam Samson’s E., v. He was the king o’ a’ the core, To guard, or draw, or wick a bore.
2. spec. The cylindrical perforation or cavity of a tube, gun, etc. Also attrib., preceded by a defining word, as smooth-bore, taper-bore, CHOKE-BORE, q.v. (In quot. 1730 used of a semi-cylindrical groove.)
1572. Gascoigne, Weedes, Wks. (1587), 183. The bravest pecce for breech and bore that ever yet was bought.
1611. Cotgr., Ame … the mould that is within the bore of Artillerie when tis cast.
1635. J. Babington, Pyrotechn., 1. I take for the sayd length six diameters of the bore, which maketh six inches.
1678. N. Wanley, Wonders, III. xliv. § 28. 227/2. Muskets … to shoot Bullets without Powder, or anything else but Wind or Air compressed in the bore of it.
1730. A. Gordon, Maffei’s Amphit., 349. Several small Bores made hollow by the continued Friction of the Ropes.
a. 1793. G. White, Selborne (1853), 4. Might plant the mortar with wide threat’ning bore.
1808. J. Barlow, Columb., V. 628. Marksmen, skill’d to pour Their slugs unerring from the twisted bore.
1871. B. Stewart, Heat, § 16. Part of this mercury will be driven up the bore into the bulb.
b. Hence, the interior measurement or diameter of a tube; the caliber of a gun; also fig. and transf.
1583. Plat, Divers New Exper. (1594), 23. Beeing of petronell bore, or a bore higher.
1602. Shaks., Ham., IV. vi. 27. Yet are they much too light for the bore of the Matter.
1635. J. Babington, Pyrotechn., xxiii. 27. Holes … which shall be halfe an inch asunder, and likewise half an inch boare.
1672. Marvell, Reh. Transp., I. 93. Whose eares are of a just bore for his fable.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 403. Nearly three hundred pieces of cannon of different bores.
1822. Imison, Sc. & Art, I. 112. The smaller the bore of the pipe is, the easier he will be able to raise himself.
1845. Darwin, Voy. Nat., iii. (1873), 60. The measure or bore of the lightning, if such a term may be used.
1881. Metal World, ix. 139. An article on measuring the bores of cylinders.
3. A deep vertical hole of small diameter, bored into the earth to ascertain the nature of the underlying strata, or to obtain water.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 185. What we do find at our utmost depths or bores … quarries of stone, Mines of metal, or layers and veins of barren earths.
1875. Encycl. Brit., I. 646. A bore of 3 inches was carried to a depth of 2086 feet.
b. transf. The tubular outlet of a geyser.
1863. Baring-Gould, Iceland, 196. The first of the great springs has two bores.
4. A piece of iron bored with holes of various sizes to receive the shanks of nails, while the head is brought to shape by the hammer.
1831. J. Holland, Manuf. Metals, I. 195. This bore is a piece of strong iron, ten or twelve inches in length.
II. That which bores.
† 5. An instrument for boring. Obs.
[a. 800. Corpus Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, Voc., 45. Scalpellum, bor.]
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1693), 48. The Square-bore is a square Steel Point … fitted into a square Socket in an Iron Wimble.
III. 6. Comb. (in sense 3; some of these might be referred to BORE v.1): bore-bit, a chisel used in boring through rocks; bore-hole, a more usual synonym of BORE sb.1 3; bore-log, a perforated block of wood through which the bore-rod passes; bore-meal, the débris brought up by boring: bore-rod, an iron rod used for making bore-holes.
1869. Spon’s Dict. Engineering, I. 499. The *bore-bit is a simple, flat chisel.
1708. J. C., Compl. Collier (1845), 13. About 3 Inches Diameter for a *Bore-hole (or Boreing) is sufficient.
1883. Athenæum, 7 April, 447. [They] sank a bore-hole down to the salt at Saltholme, on the north side of the Tees.
1869. Spon’s Dict. Engineering, I. 501. The mouth of the well … ought to be secured by the *bore-log. Ibid. Each day … a part of the *bore-meal, or the coarsest débris [should be] saved for future examination.
1851. Coal-tr. Terms Northumbld. & Durh., 8. To ascertain the nature of strata, by means of *bore-rods.
