wring

[ring]

verb (used with object), wrung, wring·ing.

to twist forcibly: He wrung the chicken's neck.

to twist and compress, or compress without twisting, in order to force out water or other liquid (often followed by out): to wring clothes.

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

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

to clasp tightly with or without twisting: to wring one's hands in pain.

to force (usually followed by off) by twisting.

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

verb (used without object), wrung, wring·ing.

to perform the action of wringing something.

to writhe, as in anguish.

noun

a wringing; forcible twist or squeeze.

Origin of wring

before 900; Middle English wringen, Old English wringan; cognate with German ringen to wrestle

Related formsout·wring, verb (used with object), out·wrung, out·wring·ing.

Can be confusedring wring

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wringing

extort, wrest, wrench, squeeze, extract, screw, gouge, force, strain, pinch, throttle, compress, choke, hurt, exact, turn, coerce, push, pain, strangle

Examples from the Web for wringing

Contemporary Examples of wringing

Some artists were just happy to have their music out [but] the labels were just wringing their hands.
15 Years After Napster: How the Music Service Changed the Industry
Alex Suskind
June 6, 2014
He says the worst of it is in his neck, which on good days feels like someone is grabbing it rather than wringing it.
15 Rounds and Still Talking: Lt. Brian Murphy’s Story of the Oak Creek Massacre
Simran Jeet Singh
August 5, 2013
Pundits are wringing their hands over the leaks emerging on how the Supreme Court decided Obamacare.
Obamacare Leaks Show Supreme Court’s Slow Move to the 21st Century
Daniel Stone
July 4, 2012
With a looming humanitarian disaster in Libya, Western nations are wringing their hands over what to do.
Obama's Libya Gamble
John Barry
March 11, 2011
The wringing of his hands, the dropping of his ice cream into his lap.
Can a Straight Man Love Sex and the City?
Michael Patrick King
May 23, 2010

Historical Examples of wringing

Never, never, wringing her hands, should she meet with a mistress she loved so well.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
Not unto me the strength be ascribed; not unto me the wringing of the expiation!'
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
This one,' he added, wringing his hand again, 'that will be lost through me.'
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
"You must go back the way you came," said the monkey, wringing the tears from its handkerchief.
Prince Vance
Eleanor Putnam
Swan pushed back from the table, wringing the coffee from his mustache.
The Flockmaster of Poison Creek
George W. Ogden

British Dictionary definitions for wringing

wring

verb wrings, wringing or wrung

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

(tr) to twist forciblywring its neck

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

(tr) to distresswring one's heart

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

(tr) to obtain by or as if by forceful meanswring information out of

(intr) to writhe with or as if with pain

wringing wet soaking; drenched

noun

an act or the process of wringing

Word Origin for wring

Old English wringan; related to Old High German ringan (German wringen), Gothic wrungō snare. See wrangle, wrong

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

Word Origin and History for wringing

wring

Old English wringan "press, strain, wring, twist" (class III strong verb; past tense wrang, past participle wrungen), from Proto-Germanic *wrenganan (cf. Old English wringen "to wring, press out," Old Frisian wringa, Middle Dutch wringhen, Dutch wringen "to wring," Old High German ringan "to move to and fro, to twist," German ringen "to wrestle"), from PIE *wrengh- "to turn," nasalized variant of *wergh- "to turn," from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus).