wringer
[ ring-er ]
/ ˈrɪŋ ər /
noun
a person or thing that wrings.
an apparatus or machine for squeezing liquid out of anything wet, as two rollers through which an article of wet clothing may be squeezed.
a painful, difficult, or tiring experience; ordeal (usually preceded by through the): His child's illness really put him through the wringer.
RELATED WORDS
query, investigation, inquiry, questioning, inquisition, inquest, poll, catechism, interrogation, examination, interrogatory, inquiring
Nearby words
- wright, russel,
- wright, willard huntington,
- wrigley,
- wring,
- wring together,
- wrinkle,
- wrinklies,
- wrinkly,
- wrist,
- wrist joint
Origin of wringer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for wringer
wringer
/ (ˈrɪŋə) /
noun
another name for mangle 2 (def. 1)
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
wringer
"device for squeezing water from clothes," 1799, agent noun from wring. Figurative phrase to put (something) through the wringer first recorded 1942, American English.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
wringer
see under put through (the wringer).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.