Word Finder - torrents

definition

A violent flow, as of water, lava, etc.; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice.

example

A torrent of green and white water broke over the hull of the sail-boat.

definition

A large amount or stream of something.

example

They endured a torrent of inquiries.

definition

(file sharing) A set of files obtainable through a peer-to-peer network, especially BitTorrent.

example

I got a torrent of the complete works of Shakespeare the other day; I'm not sure why.

In the dry season little more than brooks, they become raging torrents in the wet season.

Increased by the perennial waters of these numerous torrents the Senku makes its way S.W.

Below this the watershed of the Apennines is too near to the sea on that side to allow the formation of any large streams. Hence the rivers that flow in the opposite direction into the Adriatic and the Gulf of Taranto have much longer courses, though all partake of the character of mountain torrents, rushing down with great violence in winter and after storms, but dwindling in the summer into scanty streams, which hold a winding and sluggish course through the great plains of Apulia.

All voyagers agree that for varied beauty of form and colour the Society Islands are unsurpassed in the Pacific. Innumerable rills gather in lovely streams, and, after heavy rains, torrents precipitate themselves in grand cascades from the mountain cliffs - a feature so striking as to have attracted the attention of all voyagers, from Wallis downwards.

The latter class is formed by waters that fall on the barren mountain-sides and rush down in torrents, forming in the valleys shallow bodies of water yellow with the mud held in suspension.

Lake Baikal receives over 300 streams, mostly short mountain torrents, besides the Upper Angara, which enters its north-east extremity, the Barguzin, on the east, and the Selenga on the south-east.

It is navigable by junks between that city and Ninguta, though the torrents in its course make the voyage backwards and forwards one of considerable difficulty.

Bondu is traversed by torrents, which flow rapidly during the rains but are empty in the dry season, such streams being known in this part of West Africa as marigots.

From the proximity of the mountains to the sea none of the rivers in this part of Italy has a long course, and they are generally mere mountain torrents, rapid and swollen in winter and spring, and almost dry in summer.

The results areaa lack of water-supply and of water-power, the streams becoming mere torrents for a short period and perfectly dry for the rest of the year; lack of a sufficient supply of timber; the denudation of the soil on the hills, and, where the valleys below have insufficient drainage, the formation of swamps.

From the slopes of the Maluti descend many streams, the largest being the Kornet Spruit, which joins the Senku and other torrents from the Drakensberg to form the upper Orange.

The northern shore, along the Gulf of Aden, is backed by tablelands separated by the beds of mountain torrents - generally dry.

It is formed by two torrents, one of which has a subterranean course of 21 m., disappearing in the sink known as the Trou du Taureau ("bull's hole") and reappearing at the Goueil de Joueou.

The climate is so dry, and the rains are so scarce, that an absence of forests and Alpine meadows is characteristic of the ridge; but when heavy rain falls simultaneously with the melting of the snows in the mountains, the watercourses become filled with furious torrents, which create great havoc. The main glaciers (12) are on the north slope, but none creeps below io,000 to 12,000 ft.

The torrents which descend from the Abyssinian plateau usually fail to reach the sea.

Public Domain Torrents are free and legal.

Above these distances they are mere mountain torrents.

From the water-divide which separates the most eastern affluent of the Brahmaputra, eastwards to the deep gorges which enclose the most westerly branch of the upper Yang-tsze-kiang (here running from north to south), is a short space of loo m.; and within that space two mighty rivers, the Salween and the Mekong, send down their torrents to Burma and Siam.

The Vivarais mountains and the northern Cevennes approach the right banks of the Rhone and Saone closely, and on that side send their waters by way of short torrents to those rivers; on the west side the streams a y e tributaries of the Loire, which rises at the foot of Mont Mezenc. A short distance to the south on the same side are the sources of the Allier and Lot.

Below the hills the country is high and arid, generally level, but sometimes rolling in sandy undulations, and much intersected by hill torrents, 201 in number.

Akhdar, is perhaps the most fertile district in the peninsula; Hadramut, too, contains many large and prosperous villages, and the torrents from the Yemen highlands fertilize several oases in the Tehama (or Tihama) or lowlands of the western and southern coast.

The clouds of steam condensed to copious torrents, which, mingling with the fine ashes, proiced muddy streams that swept far and wide over the plains, aching even to the foot of the Apennines.

The surface of the country is uneven and hilly, except in the north-east part, which forms an irregular plain cut up by ravines ' scooped out by torrents during the periodical rains.

Although the lake is fed by many small mountain torrents, it has no visible outlet, but probably communicates by an underground channel with one of the rivers which drain the Cordillera.

The streams are only mountain torrents to within a few miles of the coast; the mouth of the Khwa forms a good anchorage for vessels of from 9 to io ft.

Except the Caledon, Vaal and Orange, they are dry or nearly dry for three or four months in the year, but in the rainy season they are often raging torrents.

The hydrography of Mexico, therefore, is of the simplest description - a number of small streams flowing from the plateau or mountain slopes eastward to the Gulf of Mexico and westward to the Pacific. Most of these are little more than mountain torrents, but one has a course exceeding 500 m., and few have navigable channels.

It is built in a smiling green hollow on the left bank of the Sitter stream, which is formed by the union of several mountain torrents descending from the Santis.

The department is intersected by torrents belonging to the Garonne basin - the Salat, the Arize, which, near Mas d'Azil, flows through a subterranean gallery, the Ariege and the Hers.

The application of electricity is widely developed on account of the proximity of Alpine valleys rich in torrents.

Numerous torrents pour down from the two boundary ranges, and unite in the plains to form large streams, which fall into the chief streams of the district, which are the Irrawaddy, Hlaing and Bassein, all of them branches of the Irrawaddy.

As the river rolls on, it is swollen by mountain torrents, descending from the glaciers on either side of its bed - so by the Geren (left), near Oberwald, by the Eginen (left), near Ulrichen, by the Fiesch (right), at Fiesch, by the Binna (left), near Grengiols, by the Massa (right), flowing from the great Aletsch glaciers, above Brieg.

The principal river of northern Italy is the Po, which rises to the west of Piedmont and is fed not from glaciers like the Swiss torrents, but by rain and snow, so that the water has a somewhat higher temperature, a point to which much importance is attached for the valuable meadow irrigation known as marcite.

For the summer irrigation Italy depends on the glaciers of the Alps; and the great torrents of the Dora Baltea and Sesia can be counted on for a volume exceeding 6000 cub.

It is probable that certain rudely chipped flints, so-called eoliths, in the alluvial gravels (formed generally at the mouth of wadis opening on to the Nile) at Thebes and elsewhere, are the work of primitive man; but it has been shown that such are produced also by natural forces in the rush of torrents.

Their sides are seamed with torrents which tear down the solid rock and sweep its detritus into the glens and sea lochs.

Indeed, so rapid is the infilling by the torrents which sweep down detritus from the surrounding heights that even the existing lakes are visibly diminishing.

After flowing southward along the base of the high Andes for a short distance and receiving a number of torrents from the snowclad heights, it turns south-eastward across the plain and enters the Maranon about 70 m.

The Pastaza, however, is subject to irresistible floods caused by the sudden rising of the mountain torrents on its upper course, especially the Toro, which sweep down with such fury that navigation on the river is practically impossible.

A great part of the country, however, is still compelled to use the most primitive means of communication-mule paths, fords in the smaller streams in the dry season, and rude suspension bridges across deep gorges and swift mountain torrents.

Swelled by torrents from the mountains of Dore and Dome, it unites with the river Dore at its entrance to the department to which it gives its name.

On the west side the slope is gradual, especially in the broad plain that skirts the coast for the greater part cf its length; on the east side it is steep - precipitous indeed, towards the southern end - and intersected by valleys worn to a tremendous depth by the force of the torrents that once ran down them.

From the Kasimiya southwards the maritime plain is crossed by numerous river-beds, with a few exceptions winter torrents only.

During this season the rivers, which are roaring torrents throughout the monsoon, are almost all lost in the dry, absorbent plains.

In the first class the special purpose of the forests, such as the protection of the plains from devastation by torrents, must come before any smaller interests.

Most rain falls between November and May, and at this season the torrents are tremendous while they last, and squalls of wind are frequent and violent, almost invariably preceding a downpour.

Next in importance is the Ramganga, which receives as its tributaries most of the hill torrents of the Kumaon mountains.

The disappearance of the forests (which has in a measure been artificially remedied) naturally affected the rivers, which are mostly mere torrents, dry in summer.

The plains as well as the western slopes of the Andes are covered with forest, the rivers become torrents, and the sky is covered with heavy clouds a great part of the year.

Still better is Saint-Simon's portrait of Fenelon as he appeared about the time of his appointment to Cambrai - tall, thin, well-built, exceedingly pale, with a great nose, eyes from which fire and genius poured in torrents, a face curious and unlike any other, yet so striking and attractive that, once seen, it could not be forgotten.