torture
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈtɔːt͡ʃə//
- United Kingdom/[ˈtʰɔːt͡ʃə]/
- United States//ˈtoɹt͡ʃɚ//
- Australia//ˈtoːt͡ʃə//
- Australia/[ˈtʰoːt͡ʃə]/
The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.
noun
- 1
The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.
People confess to anything under torture.
Using large dogs to attack bound, hand-cuffed prisoners is clearly torture.
What new tortures await me?
If Cheney calls it enhanced interrogation, he argues, this still doesn’t change the meaning of the word torture, which Cheney and the public know perfectly well. But cognitive linguists like Lakoff (1996) remind us that the public can be manipulated into believing that torture is “merely” an enhanced interrogation technique and thus does not protest.
- 2
The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish. Sexual activity involving the infliction of pain to a certain body part or in a certain manner.
cock and ball torture
tickle torture
- 3
Severe pain or anguish, of mind or body.
- 4
An unpleasant sensation or its infliction: embarrassment, heartache, etc.
Every time she says 'goodbye' it is torture!
Coventry City midfielder Josh Ruffels described his 11 months out injured as 'absolute torture' after the goalless draw with Derby County Under-21s. (http://www.ccfc.co.uk/news/article/eleven-months-of-absolute-torture-760652.aspx)
Etymology
From Middle English torture, from Old French torture, from Late Latin tortūra (“a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping colic;” in Medieval Latin “pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion, torture”), from Latin tortus (whence also tort), past participle of torquēre (“to twist”).
verb
- 1
To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone), usually with the aim of forcing confessions or punishing them.
People who torture often have sadistic tendencies.
Forms
- plural
- tortures
- past tense
- tortured
- past participle
- tortured
- present participle
- torturing
- third person singular
- tortures
torture · The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or…
tortured · Having been subjected to torture, mental or physical.torturing · An act of tortureTory · A member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which…