water cure

American  

noun

1. hydropathy; hydrotherapy.

2. a method of torture in which the victim is forced to drink great quantities of water.

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water cure British  

noun

1. med a nontechnical name for hydropathy hydrotherapy

2. informal  a form of torture in which the victim is forced to drink very large amounts of water

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Etymology

Origin of water cure

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

During that period, deputies coerced false confessions, sometimes using cattle prods or “the water cure”: pouring water into suspects’ nostrils until they complied.

From New York Times

Mackintosh’s Women’s Prize-nominated third novel carries the power of her first two, “The Water Cure” and “Blue Ticket.”

From Los Angeles Times

Southern California is still searching for a water cure.

From Los Angeles Times

Today, with a president of the United States who has recommended that “we should go much stronger than waterboarding,” it is important to remember that at least three of the captured American airmen from the Doolittle raid were waterboarded by the Kempeitai, a torture then notorious as the “water cure,” among other forms of abuse.

From New York Times

Like “The Water Cure,” “Blue Ticket” is not a book that offers easy answers.

From New York Times