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definitions

wrung

[ruhng]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wrung ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

simple past tense and past participle of wring.
Related formsun·wrung, adjective
Can be confusedrung wrung

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 wrung

dried, twisted, compressed

Examples from the Web for wrung

Contemporary Examples of wrung

Historical Examples of wrung

  • It wrung the hearts of all who had opportunities of personally observing it.

  • All the despair in Dick's face, though it wrung his heart, could not move him.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • She wrung her hands in agony, distressed that she could not at once repair the evil she had done.

    The Dream

    Emile Zola

  • M'Leod wrung my hand as he spoke, and the tears stood in his eyes.

  • The silent Ricardi rose somewhat mortified; the other Ricardi wrung his hands.

    Casanova's Homecoming

    Arthur Schnitzler

British Dictionary definitions for wrung

wrung

verb

the past tense and past participle of wring

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 wrung

wring

v.

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).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper