What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Rapid vs Torrent - What's the difference?

rapid | torrent |

As adjectives the difference between rapid and torrent

is that rapid is very swift or quick while torrent is rolling or rushing in a rapid stream.

As nouns the difference between rapid and torrent

is that rapid is a rough section of a river or stream which is difficult to navigate due to the swift and turbulent motion of the water while torrent is a violent flow, as of water, lava, etc.; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice.

As an adverb rapid

is rapidly.

As a verb torrent is

to download in a torrent.

rapid

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Very swift or quick.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheels.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=5 citation , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. There is something humiliating about it.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Chico Harlan
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Japan pockets the subsidy … , passage=Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."}}
  • Steep, changing altitude quickly. (of a slope)
  • Needing only a brief exposure time. (of a lens, plate, film, etc.)
  • (England, dialectal) Violent, severe.
  • (obsolete, dialectal) Happy.

    • Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (archaic or colloquial) Rapidly.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (often, in the plural) a rough section of a river or stream which is difficult to navigate due to the swift and turbulent motion of the water.
  • (dated) A burst of rapid fire.

    • Related terms

    * rapt

    Derived terms

    * rapidity * rapidly * rapidness * ultrarapid

    Anagrams

    *

    torrent

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) torrent

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A violent flow, as of water, lava, etc.; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice.
  • * (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
    • The roaring torrent is deep and wide.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.
  • (figurative) A large amount or stream of something.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 21, author=Helen Pidd, work=the Guardian
    • , title= Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis , passage=A new stream of migrants is leaving the continent. It threatens to become a torrent if the debt crisis continues to worsen.}}
  • * {{quote-book, passage=The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, / The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, / The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor ...
    • , title=, author=Alfred Noyes, year=1906}}
    Derived terms
    * torrential * torrentiality * torrentially

    See also

    * barrage * inundate * deluge * torrential

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Rolling or rushing in a rapid stream.
  • * Milton
    • Waves of torrent fire.

    Etymology 2

    From BitTorrent and the file extension it uses for metadata (.torrent).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Internet, file sharing) A set of files obtainable through a peer-to-peer network, especially BitTorrent.
    • I got a torrent of the complete works of Shakespeare the other day; I'm not sure why.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (internet slang) To download in a torrent.
    • The video rental place didn't have the film I was after, but I managed to torrent it.
    ----