torque

/tawrk/, n., v., torqued, torquing.

n.

1. Mech. something that produces or tends to produce torsion or rotation; the moment of a force or system of forces tending to cause rotation.

2. Mach. the measured ability of a rotating element, as of a gear or shaft, to overcome turning resistance.

3. Optics. the rotational effect on plane-polarized light passing through certain liquids or crystals.

4. Also, torc. a collar, necklace, or similar ornament consisting of a twisted narrow band, usually of precious metal, worn esp. by the ancient Gauls and Britons.

v.t.

5. Mach. to apply torque to (a nut, bolt, etc.).

6. to cause to rotate or twist.

v.i.

7. to rotate or twist.

[1825-35; < L torquere to twist; (def. 4) < F torque < L torques TORQUES (torc perh. < Ir L)]

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or moment

In physics, the tendency of a force to rotate the body to which it is applied.

Torque is always specified with regard to the axis of rotation. It is equal to the magnitude of the component of the force lying in the plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, multiplied by the shortest distance between the axis and the direction of the force component. Torque is the force that affects rotational motion; the greater the torque, the greater the change in this motion.

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▪ jewelry

      in jewelry, metal collar, neck ring, or armband consisting of a bar or ribbon of twisted metal curved into a loop, the ends of which are fashioned into knobs ornamented with motifs such as volutes or depicting animal heads, or drawn out and bent abruptly so as to hook into one another. The torque is a unique neck ornament in that it is not flexible and was often of great size and weight.

      Achaemenidian jewelry made in Persia from the 6th to the 4th century BC contains examples of torques, the terminals of which are made in the form of lions, ibex, rams' heads, or purely fantastic animals. The torque was a characteristic male neck ornament of such peoples as the ancient Teutons, Gauls, and Britons. The Romans, when they invaded Britain, were so intrigued with the torques that they awarded them to their soldiers for brave acts.

▪ physics

also called  Moment Of A Force,  

 in physics, the tendency of a force to rotate the body to which it is applied. The torque, specified with regard to the axis of rotation, is equal to the magnitude of the component of the force vector lying in the plane perpendicular to the axis, multiplied by the shortest distance between the axis and the direction of the force component. Regardless of its orientation in space, the force vector can always be located in a plane parallel to the axis. In the Figure—>, the force vector F lies in the plane parallel to the line OL; the component F_L, being parallel to OL, has no moment about OL, while the component F_P, lying in the plane perpendicular to OL, has a moment, or torque, about OL equal to F_P × d, in which d, the shortest distance between F_P and OL, is the moment arm or lever arm.

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