Geom. [f. med.L. tors-us, -um, for L. tort-us twisted.] A developable surface; a surface generated by a moving straight line which at every instant is turning, in some plane or other through it, about some point or other in its length.
1863. Cayley, Math. Papers (1892), V. 182. By Torse (m, n) I denote the developable surface or ‘Torse’ generated by a line which meets each of the curves m and n. Ibid. (1879), in Encycl. Brit., X. 417. If the system be such that a line does not intersect the consecutive line, then the surface is a skew surface, or scroll; but if it be such that each line intersects the consecutive line, then it is a developable, or torse.
