\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 exsisting 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.
      --New Am. Cyc.
2. (Amer. Hist.) One who, in the time of the Revolution,
   favored submitting tothe claims of Great Britain against
   the colonies; an adherent tothe crown.

\To"ry\, a.
Of ro pertaining to the Tories.