TORY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tory

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/tˈɔri/ Listen

adjective

Tory adj. Of or pertaining to the Tories.

noun

Tory n. (pl. tories)

(Eng. Politics) A member of the conservative party, as opposed to the progressive party which was formerly called the Whig, and is now called the Liberal, party; an earnest supporter of existing royal and ecclesiastical authority. Note: The word Tory first occurs in English history in 1679, during the struggle in Parliament occasioned by the introduction of the bill for the exclusion of the duke of York from the line of succession, and was applied by the advocates of the bill to its opponents as a title of obloquy or contempt. The Tories subsequently took a broader ground, and their leading principle became the maintenance of things as they were. The name, however, has for several years ceased to designate an existing party, but is rather applied to certain traditional maxims of public policy. The political successors of the Tories are now commonly known as Conservatives.

(Amer. Hist.) One who, in the time of the Revolution, favored submitting to the claims of Great Britain against the colonies; an adherent to the crown.

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Etymology of 'Tory'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tory" Quotes from Famous Books

... a whig; but as the tories were in the ascendant, he rapidly ripened into a tory; he ended his political career by deserting the tories and avowing the doctrines of staunch and uncompromising whigs. He tried libertinism, married life, politics, power, exile, restoration, the House ...

— The American Quarterly Review, No. 17, March 1831 • Various

... Phoebe Bevis used to tell Revolutionary stories and sing songs that were sung during that period. Grandmother knew some Tories. She always told me that old Nat Gist was a Tory ... that is the ...

— Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 1 • Various

... says: "The fight lay entirely between Pinkerton, the old Tory member; Bagster, the new Whig member; and Brook, the Independent member." In this case, between or with is more satisfactory than among, although three ...

— Slips of Speech • John H. Bechtel

... a victory within the next two years, there lies the presentiment of an eventual defeat, let not the thought be encouraged that a better form of Home Rule is likely to come from a Tory than from a Liberal Government. Many Irish Unionists regard the prospect of continued submission to a Liberal, or what they consider a semi-Socialist, Government as the one consideration which would reconcile them to Home Rule. No one can complain of that. But they make a fatal mistake ...

— The Framework of Home Rule • Erskine Childers

... So's Gray, and more of 'em too; but there's a difference between them and the downright murdhering Tory set. Poor Tom doesn't throuble the Church much; but you'll be all for Protesthants now, Martin, when you've your new brother-in-law. Barry used to be one of ...

— The Kellys and the O'Kellys • Anthony Trollope

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