wring
Americanverb (used with object)
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to twist forcibly.
He wrung the chicken's neck.
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to twist and compress, or compress without twisting, in order to force out water or other liquid (often followed byout ).
to wring clothes.
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to extract or expel by twisting or compression (usually followed by out orfrom ).
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to affect painfully by or as if by some contorting or compressing action.
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to clasp tightly with or without twisting.
to wring one's hands in pain.
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to force (usually followed byoff ) by twisting.
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to extract or get by forceful effort or means (often followed byout ).
verb (used without object)
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to perform the action of wringing something.
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to writhe, as in anguish.
noun
verb
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(often foll by out) to twist and compress to squeeze (a liquid) from (cloth, etc)
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(tr) to twist forcibly
wring its neck
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(tr) to clasp and twist (one's hands), esp in anguish
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(tr) to distress
wring one's heart
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(tr) to grip (someone's hand) vigorously in greeting
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(tr) to obtain by or as if by forceful means
wring information out of
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(intr) to writhe with or as if with pain
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soaking; drenched
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has wrungperfect 3rd person singular
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have wrungperfect
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am wringingprogressive 1st person singular
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are wringingprogressive
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is wringingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been wringingperfect progressive
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wringssingular 3rd person
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wringingparticiple
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has been wringingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had wrungperfect
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were wringingprogressive plural
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was wringingprogressive singular
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had been wringingperfect progressive
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wrungparticiple
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wrungsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of wring
before 900; Middle English wringen, Old English wringan; cognate with German ringen to wrestle
Explanation
To wring something is to twist or squeeze it, usually out of its original shape. If you annoy someone enough, they might threaten to wring your neck. If you do laundry by hand, then you most likely wring out your shirts to get rid of excess water before hanging them out to dry. You can also wring out someone's hair after washing it. As you can tell, the word often has to do with getting liquids out of something. You might wring tears out of a person's eyes if you tell him the sad story of the day you lost your puppy.
Vocabulary lists containing wring
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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List 14
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Noticing that the outdoor space got just enough light to wring out some tomatoes, we headed to the nursery to top off our nest.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
Senior employees of Live Nation bragged about their ability other wring money out of ticket-buying customers, saying they were “robbing them blind.”
From Salon • Mar. 12, 2026
He has also mocked allies uneasy about the widening conflict, referring to those who "wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force."
From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026
That hasn’t happened since World War II. It took a famously gut-wrenching recession to wring out the last bout of high inflation from the economy in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 14, 2026
I wring my fingers, put on a long face.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
