torture

[ tawr-cher ]

/ ˈtɔr tʃər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR torture ON THESAURUS.COM

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), tor·tured, tor·tur·ing.

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.).

Words nearby torture

tortoni, tortricid, tortuga, tortuosity, tortuous, torture, torture porn, torturous, torula, torulopsosis, torulosis

Origin of torture

First recorded in 1530–40, torture is from the Late Latin word tortūra a twisting, torment, torture. See tort, -ure

SYNONYMS FOR torture

6 See torment.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR torture ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM torture

tor·tur·a·ble, adjectivetor·tured·ly, adverbtor·tur·er, nountor·ture·some, adjective

tor·tur·ing·ly, adverbo·ver·tor·ture, verb (used with object), o·ver·tor·tured, o·ver·tor·tur·ing.pre·tor·ture, noun, verb (used with object), pre·tor·tured, pre·tor·tur·ing.self-tor·ture, nounself-tor·tured, adjectiveself-tor·tur·ing, adjectiveun·tor·tured, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for torture

Torture, the UVa rape, police violence—we hunger for the facts, and then twist them.
On Torture, Chuck Johnson & Sondheim|James Poulos|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He also wrote, “Torture is not a thing that we can tolerate.”
The Luxury Homes That Torture and Your Tax Dollars Built|Michael Daly|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Torture continues apace, as Amnesty International has documented, and few are held accountable.
One Year Later, Libya’s Long Road Continues|Jamie Dettmer|October 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“Torture in police detention [has] increased dramatically with the uprising,” she says.
Assad’s House of Torture|Anna Therese Day|October 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Torture, some people might call it, from sundown Sunday to sundown Friday.
Inside Seal Team Six by Don Mann Excerpt|Don Mann|December 4, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Torture and the cruellest forms of punishment were employed.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 5|Various
"Torture 'em first and then attend to the country," snapped The Rat.
The Lost Prince|Frances Hodgson Burnett
I dont consider the Torture of the Innocents a pretty game, I told her.
Ainslee's magazine, Volume 16, No. 3, October, 1905|Various
Torture was still employed in capital cases to force confession even in Holland and France.
Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica|James Boswell
Torture wouldn't make her tell what she knows, and she doesn't have to either!
The House of the Misty Star|Fannie Caldwell Macaulay

British Dictionary definitions for torture

torture

/ (ˈtɔːtʃə) /

verb (tr)

to cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etcto 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

Derived forms of torture

tortured, adjectivetorturedly, adverbtorturer, nountorturesome or torturous, adjective

torturing, adjectivetorturingly, adverbtorturously, adverb

Word Origin for torture

C16: from Late Latin tortūra a twisting, from torquēre to twist

usage for torture

The adjective torturous is sometimes confused with tortuous. One speaks of a torturous experience, i.e. one that involves pain or suffering, but of a tortuous road, i.e. one that winds or twists

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

torture

noun

verb (used with object), tor·tured, tor·tur·ing.

Words related to torture

Words nearby torture

Origin of torture

SYNONYMS FOR torture

OTHER WORDS FROM torture

Examples from the Web for torture

British Dictionary definitions for torture

verb (tr)

noun

Derived forms of torture

Word Origin for torture

usage for torture