Word.ws English Dictionary

carrying a torch

carrying a torch is the present participle and gerund of carry a torch.

Meaning of carry a torch

Verb

carry a torch (third-person singular simple present carries a torch, present participle carrying a torch, simple past and past participle carried a torch)

  1. (idiomatic) To love or to be romantically infatuated with, especially when such feelings are not reciprocated.
    • Someday, I know that Jim will up and leave me / But even if he does you can believe me / I'll go on carryin' the torch for Jim / I'll go on lovin' my Jim1941, “Jim”, Nelson Shawn (lyrics), James Caesar Petrillo and Edward Ross (music)

Questions about carrying a torch

What is carrying a torch the present participle and gerund of?
Carrying a torch is the present participle and gerund of carry a torch.

Words near carrying a torch in the dictionary

  1. carryed
  2. carryforward
  3. carryforwards
  4. carryin'
  5. carrying
  6. carrying a torch
  7. carrying a torch for
  8. carrying a tune
  9. carrying all before one
  10. carrying away
  11. carrying basket

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carrying a torch (page history and authors); carry a torch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “carrying a torch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carrying_a_torch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.