Tory \To"ry\, a.
   Of or pertaining to the Tories.
   [1913 Webster]

	

	Tory \To"ry\, n.; pl. Tories. [ Properly used of the Irish
   bogtrotters who robbed and plundered during the English civil
   wars, professing to be in sympathy with the royal cause;
   hence transferred to those who sought to maintain the extreme
   prerogatives of the crown; probably from Ir. toiridhe, tor, a
   pursuer; akin to Ir. & Gael. toir a pursuit.]
   1. (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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
         --New Am. Cyc.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. (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.
      [1913 Webster]

	

	Tory
    n 1: an American who favored the British side during the
         American Revolution
    2: a member of political party in Great Britain that has been
       known as the Conservative Party since 1832; was the
       opposition party to the Whigs
    3: a supporter of traditional political and social institutions
       against the forces of reform; a political conservative

	

	41 Moby Thesaurus words for "Tory":
   Bircher, Bourbon, Conservative, Democrat, Labourite, Republican,
   Whig, conservatist, conservative, diehard, extreme right-winger,
   hard hat, heeler, imperialist, loyalist, monarchist, partisan,
   party faithful, party hack, party man, party member,
   party wheelhorse, radical right, reactionarist, reactionary,
   reactionist, registered Democrat, registered Republican, regular,
   right, right wing, right-winger, rightist, royalist,
   social Darwinist, stalwart, standpat, standpatter,
   ultraconservative, ward heeler, wheelhorse