What's the difference between downpour and torrent?

Downpour


Definition:

  • (n.) A pouring or streaming downwards; esp., a heavy or continuous shower.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Some retailers said April's downpours led to pent-up demand which was unleashed at the first sign of summer, with shoppers rushing to update their summer wardrobes.
  • (2) The warm weather will not reach all parts of the country, however – with pockets of north-west England still expecting showery downpours this weekend.
  • (3) Boxing Day sales shoppers were soaked as downpours continued across the country on Wednesday, and there were warnings that an Atlantic storm would bring more heavy rain at the weekend.
  • (4) Downpours of up to 40-50mm could fall in the next 24 hours as the rain reaches Lancashire and Cumbria initially and then crosses the Pennines, gaining in intensity.
  • (5) Hart conceded his mistake at Ludovic Obraniak's corner had cost his team – "I came out and didn't get there, so it's my fault and that's cost us the three points," he said – even if the home side merited their point on a stodgy surface that was still saturated from the downpour the previous night.
  • (6) Kerry McQuade whose home perched high up on Blenheim Street avoided the worst effects, said: "We had two hours of a torrential downpour, followed by continual rain, from lunchtime.
  • (7) In London, the Thames Barrier was raised on Thursday morning for the first time since March 2010, to reduce the risk of flooding as water from days of downpours causes high levels further upstream.
  • (8) We have seen upsets and outbursts, sunshine and downpours, staggering exits and gaudy new arrivals.
  • (9) The downpour notwithstanding, a few hundred people gathered in the square erupted in applause and shouted Obama’s name as the first family stepped forward.
  • (10) A succession of storms, some very high tides and incessant downpours this winter have brought into stark relief Britain's exposure to the weather.
  • (11) As for the rainstorm in the US, its fatal unpredictability was shown when a Thursday morning downpour dumped 4 inches on Spartanburg, South Carolina, causing flash floods that submerged several cars.
  • (12) "There is also an ongoing risk of flooding from groundwater, particularly in Dorset, and some larger rivers like the Thames and Severn are still rising as they slowly respond to the recent downpours.
  • (13) Thames Water , one of seven companies in southern and eastern England that introduced restrictions on water use on 5 April, said the recent downpours may have staved off further curbs against drought but did not amount to "a long-term fix".
  • (14) The environment select committee's report also said the government's spending by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to protect homes from flooding is not keeping pace with the rising risk, which is increasing as climate change intensifies downpours, and were also failing to act effectively to block the building of new homes on floodplains.
  • (15) Lee’s coffin, draped in Singapore’s red-and-white flag and protected from the downpour by a glass casing, lay atop a ceremonial gun carriage that was solemnly led past city landmarks from parliament to a cultural centre where the state funeral was held.
  • (16) More heavy downpours will continue on Thursday and Friday as fresh bands of rain sweep east, followed by a storm this weekend.
  • (17) The deluge that has engulfed southern and central England in recent weeks is the worst winter downpour in almost 250 years, according to figures from the world's longest-running weather station.
  • (18) Many residents say the Environment Agency should have pumped water away from the moors sooner following the spring downpours and claim it is not doing enough to keep rivers and streams dredged or to find alternative ways to store floodwater.
  • (19) The report reveals that while downpours and storms have not been out of the ordinary, their frequency has been.
  • (20) Warmer temperatures and frequent downpours speed up the breeding cycles of the insects.

Torrent


Definition:

  • (n.) A violent stream, as of water, lava, or the like; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice.
  • (n.) Fig.: A violent or rapid flow; a strong current; a flood; as, a torrent of vices; a torrent of eloquence.
  • (n.) Rolling or rushing in a rapid stream.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) There are no frame-gobbling images, no torrents of blood flowing down the streets of suburban Australia.
  • (2) Many correspondents joined in a torrent of condemnation on Twitter.
  • (3) It sits on two slender cables that stretch across the torrent 10 metres below.
  • (4) BT and Sky have now implemented the latest load of changes, preventing direct access for their subscribers (although the blocks are easily circumvented by users with a VPN), but BT has gone one step further and blocked access to other torrent sites as well.
  • (5) There was this thing called the Lima Paris Action Agenda where hundreds of businesses and thousands of regions and cities made promises to cut emissions that streamed into my email inbox in a torrent.
  • (6) He said many of the businesses in the old town centre had fared better than they had feared, but some had been flooded and that on one street by the church the water was flowing "like a torrent, 18 inches high".
  • (7) One resident in nearby Walsden was swept along about 15 metres by the torrent.
  • (8) In fact, no UK ISP has ever blocked a private torrent site before.” Barack Obama’s support for net neutrality sets precedent for the rest of the world • The headline, subheading and caption on this article were amended on 28 November.
  • (9) After entering PayPal or credit card details the user is given a Torrent file.
  • (10) The Pakistani Taliban have reacted to the torrent of negative media coverage after their attempt to assassinate a 14-year-old schoolgirl by threatening journalists.
  • (11) North Korea has in recent weeks conducted a string of artillery drills and missile tests, and has unleashed a torrent of racist and sexist rhetoric against the leaders of the US and South Korea.
  • (12) A graduate of Syracuse University, he was coming towards the end of a coast-to-coast cycle ride across America which he was making with his friend Ethan Rodriguez-Torrent.
  • (13) Rodriguez-Torrent escaped injury, but their host was struck by a pellet that entered her naval cavity and transversed her brain, lodging at the back of her skull.
  • (14) A further two people have died in flooding in eastern Romania, including a man who was ripped from his bicycle by a torrent of water in the eastern village of Ruginesti.
  • (15) The clumsy attempt to smear Navalny provoked a torrent of scorn online from his supporters.
  • (16) ‘Please look again’: a torrent of mysterious evidence makes its way to Lathierial Boyd Facebook Twitter Pinterest Boyd had an alibi in a club shooting.
  • (17) The retinal organisation of a cyprinid fish, Crossocheilus latius latius Hamilton, which inhabits the sub-Himalayan torrents of Sikkim, India, has been studied by light microscopy.
  • (18) Again, it looks simple, but in his delivery, in its immediacy and its signalling of the torrent of rhymes that are about to come, it’s one of the greatest opening couplets in the whole of hip-hop, and it still reverberates through global culture as such.
  • (19) It is all too easy to feel defeated by the sheer scale of the blurred torrent of information unleashed on the world.
  • (20) Speaking to the Guardian via telephone he said that he had left the country after the coup attempt last Friday because he started to receive a torrent of violent threats via social media, including threats of rape and death threats.