we should torch this place

[bartdebsky]

I came across this sentence "we should've torched this place" and I wonder what it means. Obviously, I know "torch" as a noun but I hadn't encountered "torch" as a verb. What does it mean?

 

[GoesStation]

The sentence is a casual way to say "We should have burned the building down." To torch​ means "to set fire to".

 

[GoesStation]

I've just happened on the verb "to torch" in a December 1st column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

For the record, the man's head was intact, and no one had attempted to torch him. Investigators concluded his death was "natural."​

Columns are often written in a more casual or conversational style than articles.

 

[andrewg927]

Look at definition #7 under "verb"
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/torch?s=t

- to subject to the flame or light of a torch, as in order to burn, sear, solder, or illuminate.

It does not have to be literally using a torch but the idea is the same.