Improving Mansfield went a long way towards banishing their own lingering relegation fears and pushed the Gulls nearer to the Conference with a deserved victory in heavy conditions at windy Plainmoor.
Torquay have now gone 390 minutes without scoring, and they seldom looked like breaking that drought.
With the wind behind them in the first half, Mansfield took only ten minutes to go in front. Leading scorer Richie Barker's far-post shot from a cross-shot by Adam Rundle was parried by Torquay 'keeper Andy Marriott, but young striker Danny Reet pounced to force the ball over the line.
Left winger Rundle was involved in all Mansfield's best moves, and without the busy Marriott, Torquay might have been in bigger trouble before half-time.
Gulls boss John Cornforth waited only 53 minutes before making a double-substitution, sending on winger Les Afful and midfielder Kevin Hill, and Torquay picked up a bit.
It still took them 66 minutes to force a serious save from Mansfield's veteran goalie Kevin Pressman.
Former Newcastle striker Paul Robinson hit the bar with a 75th minute header, and Torquay did go close with a series of shots by Robinson, Jo Kuffour and a Hill header.
But seven minutes from time Mansfield wrapped up the points and stretched their current unbeaten run to five games.
With Torquay committing men to attack, Norwegian defender Jon-Olav Hjelde sent a powerful header upfield, substitute Simon Brown was onto it and used his pace to race clear of an AWOL defence before beating Marriott with an angled shot from 12 yards.
The news that Rushden & Diamonds had beaten Macclesfield 1-0 only rubbed salt into Torquay's wounds - that result lifted Rushden off the bottom of the table, leapfrogging Torquay in the process.