From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtorrenttor‧rent /ˈtɒrənt $ ˈtɔː-, ˈtɑː-/ noun [countable] 1 WATERa large amount of water moving very quickly and strongly in a particular direction → flood After five days of heavy rain the Telle river was a raging torrent (=a very violent torrent).in torrents The rain came down in torrents.2 → a torrent of something
Examples from the Corpus
torrent• The river occasionally becomes a torrent after a downpour, and may even cause flooding.• He worried a story about him would draw a torrent of invitations from bookstores eager to have him in for holiday publicity.• Heavy rains had turned the small stream into a torrent.• The criminal grand jury decided in October not to charge Washington, setting off a torrent of criticism in the black community.• But former Rangers star Ferguson was having to put up with a torrent of abuse.• A torrent of water flowed down the street.• As they neared the foot of the hill the sky opened and a heavy torrent fell mercilessly down.• Soon after dark the rain descended in torrents, and all through the dreary hours of that dismal night it rained unceasingly.• There was no shelter anywhere and the rain was coming down in torrents.• After five days of heavy rain the Telle River was a raging torrent.• The defeat opened the sluice gates and venom flowed through in raging torrents.• And then I lost him among the boulders and small trees that marked the course of the torrent.raging torrent• A quiet river on a summer's day may be a raging torrent in February.• It winds up the hillside, and looks as if it could become a raging torrent in wet weather.• After the autumn and winter rains the stream becomes a raging torrent, flowing in places along a deep ravine.• Compared with five years before it was a raging torrent.• The defeat opened the sluice gates and venom flowed through in raging torrents.Origin torrent (1500-1600) French Latin torrens “burning, going very fast”, from torrere; → TORRID 