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torture
[ tawr-cher ]
noun
- the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.
- a method of inflicting such pain.
- Often tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone.
- extreme anguish of body or mind; agony.
- a cause of severe pain or anguish.
verb (used with object)
- to subject to torture.
- to afflict with severe pain of body or mind:
My back is torturing me.
- to force or extort by torture:
We'll torture the truth from his lips!
- to twist, force, or bring into some unnatural position or form:
trees tortured by storms.
- to distort or pervert (language, meaning, etc.).
torture
/ ˈtɔːtʃə /
verb
- to cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etc
to torture prisoners
- to give mental anguish to
- to twist into a grotesque form
noun
- physical or mental anguish
- the practice of torturing a person
- a cause of mental agony or worry
Usage
Derived Forms
- ˈtorturously, adverb
- ˈtorturer, noun
- ˈtorturingly, adverb
- ˈtorturing, adjective
- ˈtortured, adjective
- ˈtorturesome, adjective
- ˈtorturedly, adverb
Other Word Forms
- tortur·a·ble adjective
- tortured·ly adverb
- tortur·er noun
- torture·some adjective
- tortur·ing·ly adverb
- over·torture verb (used with object) overtortured overtorturing
- pre·torture noun verb (used with object) pretortured pretorturing
- self-torture noun
- self-tortured adjective
- self-tortur·ing adjective
- un·tortured adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of torture1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
She added: "When we looked at international comparators our death rates are more like Azerbaijan and Moldova, where torture and corruption have been documented."
More than 1,000 civilians were tortured and executed, rights groups say.
In a statement read on behalf of his wife Ceri, she told the court she was "tortured" by what happened and described her husband as the kindest man "with the biggest heart".
When the first season of the show premiered, I initially found value in Joe’s tortured voice.
There’s prison, there’s death, there’s torture and death or torture then prison; there’s not getting caught at all.
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