carry a torch for (one)
To be in love with one, especially secretly or unrequitedly. I've carried a torch for her since high school, but I've never been able to tell her how I feel. Susan carried a torch for him for years after they broke up. Please tell me she's not still carrying a torch for that loser, Brian. She deserves so much better!
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carry a torch for
Also, carry the torch for. Continue to feel the pain of unreciprocated love for, as in Jane has been carrying the torch for Bill for at least a year. The torch in this term alludes to the heat of love or passion. [1920s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
carry a torch for someone
If you carry a torch for someone, you are in love with them but they do not love you. Note: The torch referred to in these expressions is a long stick with burning material at one end which provides a light. This kind of torch is sometimes used in processions or parades. What makes a woman so special that a man will carry a torch for her all his life? Note: The verb hold is sometimes used instead of carry. He never saw the woman again. And he went through the rest of his life holding a torch for her.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
carry a torch for
feel (especially unrequited) love for. 1996 TV Times A dentist carrying a torch for the local ‘strawberry blonde’ wonders if he married the right woman.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
carry a ˈtorch for somebody
be in love with somebody, especially somebody who does not love you in return: She’s been carrying a torch for him for years.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017