bore - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

If your friends fall asleep every time you open your mouth, you might be a bore — someone who makes the people around them bored.

In 1738, Voltaire wisely wrote, “The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.” But the word bore is less boring than you think, since it can function as both noun and verb. You can bore a hole into something by drilling through it with a tool, and you can also bore people by being excessively dull, repetitive, or tedious to be around. And don't forget the bore of a needle or gun barrel, which is the same as its diameter.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: bore

1	v n	make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool a hole or passage made by a drill; usually made for exploratory purposes
2	v n	cause to be bored a person who evokes boredom
3	n	a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary)

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: bore

1

v make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool

“carpenter bees are boring holes into the wall”

Synonyms:: drill

Types:: spud
initiate drilling operations, as for petroleum; counter-drill
drill in an opposite direction; trepan
cut a hole with a trepan, as in surgery

Type of:: cut
separate with or as if with an instrument

n a hole or passage made by a drill; usually made for exploratory purposes

Synonyms:: bore-hole, drill hole

Types:: shot hole
drill hole for a charge of an explosive

Type of:: excavation
a hole in the ground made by excavating

n diameter of a tube or gun barrel

Synonyms:: caliber, calibre, gauge

Type of:: diam, diameter
the length of a straight line passing through the center of a circle and connecting two points on the circumference

2

v cause to be bored

Synonyms:: tire

Antonyms:: interest
excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of

n a person who evokes boredom

Synonyms:: dullard

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; gasbag, windbag
a boring person who talks a great deal about uninteresting topics; nudnick, nudnik
(Yiddish) someone who is a boring pest; platitudinarian
a bore who makes excessive use of platitudes; stuffed shirt
a bore who is extremely formal, pompous, and old-fashioned

Type of:: disagreeable person, unpleasant person
a person who is not pleasant or agreeable

3

n a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary)

Synonyms:: aegir, eager, eagre, tidal bore

Type of:: tidal current, tidal flow
the water current caused by the tides