wring

American  

[ring] / rɪŋ /

verb (used with object)

wrung, wringing

1. to twist forcibly.

   He wrung the chicken's neck.

2. to twist and compress, or compress without twisting, in order to force out water or other liquid (often followed byout ).

   to wring clothes.

3. to extract or expel by twisting or compression (usually followed by out orfrom ).

4. to affect painfully by or as if by some contorting or compressing action.

5. to clasp tightly with or without twisting.

   to wring one's hands in pain.

6. to force (usually followed byoff ) by twisting.

7. to extract or get by forceful effort or means (often followed byout ).

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verb (used without object)

wrung, wringing

1. to perform the action of wringing something.

2. to writhe, as in anguish.

noun

1. a wringing; forcible twist or squeeze.

wring British  

/ rɪŋ /

verb

1. (often foll by out) to twist and compress to squeeze (a liquid) from (cloth, etc)

2. (tr) to twist forcibly

   wring its neck

3. (tr) to clasp and twist (one's hands), esp in anguish

4. (tr) to distress

   wring one's heart

5. (tr) to grip (someone's hand) vigorously in greeting

6. (tr) to obtain by or as if by forceful means

   wring information out of

7. (intr) to writhe with or as if with pain

8. soaking; drenched

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noun

1. an act or the process of wringing

Other Word Forms

• outwring
  verb (used with object)

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.

Example Sentences

Efforts to wring laughs out of a genuinely awful situation yield only a few uncomfortable chuckles, such as when Charlie and Emma strike some warmup poses for a wedding photographer during an impromptu session.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 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

But proponents see AI as a way to automate mindless tasks and wring efficiencies out of a slow-moving federal bureaucracy.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2026

She would miss her friend, but Ginika’s leaving forced them both to wring out their friendship and lay it out newly fresh to dry, to return to where they used to be.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• draw out
• extort
• extract
• squeeze
• wrench
• wrest