bore

Etymology 1

From Middle English boren, from Old English borian (“to pierce”), from Proto-Germanic *burōną. Compare Danish bore, Norwegian Bokmål bore, Dutch boren, German bohren, Old Norse bora. Cognate with Latin forō (“to bore, to pierce”), Latin feriō (“strike, cut”) and Albanian birë (“hole”). Sense of wearying may come from a figurative use such as "to bore the ears"; compare German drillen.

verb

1. (transitive) To inspire boredom in somebody.
   Reading books really bores me, films are much more exciting.
   bore someone to death
   […] used to come and bore me at rare intervals. 1881, Thomas Carlyle, Reminiscences
2. (transitive) To make a hole through something.
3. (intransitive) To make a hole with, or as if with, a boring instrument; to cut a circular hole by the rotary motion of a tool.
   to bore for water or oil
   An insect bores into a tree.
4. (transitive) To form or enlarge (something) by means of a boring instrument or apparatus.
   to bore a steam cylinder or a gun barrel; to bore a hole
   short but very powerful jaws, by means whereof the insect can bore […] a cylindrical passage through the most solid wood 1862, Thaddeus William Harris, A Treatise on Some of the Insects Injurious to Vegetation
5. (transitive) To make (a passage) by laborious effort, as in boring; to force a narrow and difficult passage through.
   to bore one's way through a crowd
6. (intransitive) To be pierced or penetrated by an instrument that cuts as it turns.
   This timber does not bore well.
7. (transitive, sports, slang) To push or drive (a boxer into the ropes, a boat out of its course, etc.).
   The right hand of Curtis was open too much ; but he nevertheless had the best of the hitting in this round, till Inglis bored him down, out of the ropes. 1824, Pierce Egan, Boxiana; Or, Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism, page 600
   Hanlan, it seems, led at about a mile, when Beach's steamer bored him, and to avoid the danger of being swamped, he put on a violent spurt and drew well clear of Beach, getting some lengths lead. 1885, Tresham Gilbey, Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, volume 43, page 107
8. (intransitive) To push forward in a certain direction with laborious effort.
   They take their flight […] boring to the west.
9. (obsolete) To fool; to trick.

noun

1. A hole drilled or milled through something, or (by extension) its diameter.
   the bore of a cannon
2. The tunnel inside of a gun's barrel through which the bullet travels when fired, or (by extension) its diameter.
3. A tool, such as an auger, for making a hole by boring.
4. A capped well drilled to tap artesian water.
   1. The place where such a well exists.
5. One who inspires boredom or lack of interest; an uninteresting person.
   My neighbour is such a bore when he talks about his coin collection.
6. Something dull or uninteresting.
   What a bore that movie was! There was no action, and the dialogue was totally uncreative.
   It is as great a bore as to hear a poet read his own verses. 1871, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Passages from the French and Italian Notebooks
7. Calibre; importance.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *bore, bare, a borrowing from Old Norse bára (“billow, wave”), from Proto-Germanic *bērō (“that which bears or carries”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear”). Cognate with Icelandic bára (“billow, wave”), Faroese bára (“billow, wave”). Doublet of bier.

noun

1. A sudden and rapid flow of tide occurring in certain rivers and estuaries which rolls up as a wave.
   In another moment a huge wave, like a muddy tidal bore, but almost scaldingly hot, came sweeping round the bend up-stream. 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 102

Etymology 3

verb

1. simple past of bear
2. (colloquial) past participle of bear
   Q. When the Fireſhip appeared to be going down towards the Real, do you think that the Dorſetſhire could have bore down in Time, to have covered and aſſiſted her? 1746, Charles Fearne, Minutes of the proceedings of a court-martial, aſſembled[…], London, page 159
   […] by altering their course a very little, and easily have bore down abreast of our settlement, without incurring the smallest risk! 1834, Augustus Earle, A Narrative of a Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand in 1827[…], pages 345–346
   The end of the 20th century and the start of the new millennium have bore witness to a remarkable revolution in the way parasite/host biological interactions can be conceptually designed and experimentally studied. 10 February 2006, Karl F. Hoffman, Jennifer M. Fitzpatrick, “The Application of DNA Microarrays in the Functional Study of Schisostome/Host Biology”, in W. Evan Secor, Daniel G. Colley, editors, Schistosomiasis, Springer Science & Business Media, page 101
3. (proscribed) simple past of bare