 |
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Wring \Wring\, verb (used without an object) To writhe; to twist, as with anguish.
'T is all men's office to speak patience To those that wring under the load of sorrow. --Shak.
Look where the sister of the king of France Sits wringing of her hands, and beats her breast. --Marlowe.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Wring \Wring\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Wrung}, Obs. {Wringed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Wringing}.] [OE. wringen, AS. wringan; akin to LG. & D. wringen, OHG. ringan to struggle, G. ringen, Sw. vr["a]nga to distort, Dan. vringle to twist. Cf. {Wrangle}, {Wrench}, {Wrong}.]
1. To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes in washing. ''Earnestly wringing Waverley's hand.'' --Sir W. Scott. ''Wring him by the nose.'' --Shak.
[His steed] so sweat that men might him wring. --Chaucer.
The king began to find where his shoe did wring him. --Bacon.
The priest shall bring it [a dove] unto the altar, and wring off his head. --Lev. i. 15.
2. Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to torture.
Too much grieved and wrung by an uneasy and strait fortune. --Clarendon.
Didst thou taste but half the griefs That wring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus coldly. --Addison.
3. To distort; to pervert; to wrest.
How dare men thus wring the Scriptures? --Whitgift.
4. To extract or obtain by twisting and compressing; to squeeze or press (out); hence, to extort; to draw forth by violence, or against resistance or repugnance; -- usually with out or form.
Your overkindness doth wring tears from me. --Shak.
He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece. --Judg. vi. 38.
5. To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress, in order to enforce compliance.
To wring the widow from her 'customed right. --Shak.
The merchant adventures have been often wronged and wringed to the quick. --Hayward.
6. (Naut.) To bend or strain out of its position; as, to wring a mast.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Wring \Wring\, noun A writhing, as in anguish; a twisting; a griping. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
wring
noun: a twisting squeeze; "gave the wet cloth a wring" [syn: {squeeze}]
verb
1: twist and press out of shape [syn: {contort}, {deform}, {distort}]
2: twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish; "Wring one's hand" [syn: {wrench}]
3: obtain by coercion or intimidation; "They extorted money from the executive by threatening to reveal his past to the company boss"; "They squeezed money from the owner of the business by threatening him" [syn: {extort}, {squeeze}, {rack}, {gouge}]
4: twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid; "wring the towels" [also: {wrung}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
146 Moby Thesaurus words for "wring": afflict, agonize, ail, anamorphism, anamorphosis, asymmetry, badger, bend, bite, blackmail, bloody, buckle, burn, chafe, claim, claw, concentrate, contort, contortion, convulse, corkscrew, crinkle, crook, crookedness, crucify, crumple, cut, decoct, demand, detorsion, deviation, disproportion, distill, distort, distortion, distress, essentialize, exact, exaction, excruciate, express, extort, extortion, fester, force from, fret, gall, give pain, gnarl, gnaw, gouge, grate, grind, gripe, harrow, hurt, imbalance, impale, inflame, inflict pain, infuse, intort, irregularity, irritate, kill by inches, knot, lacerate, lancinate, levy blackmail, lopsidedness, macerate, martyr, martyrize, meander, melt down, nip, pain, pierce, pinch, press, press out, prick, prolong the agony, pry loose from, punish, put to torture, quirk, rack, rankle, rasp, refine, rend, rend from, render, rending, rip, rip from, ripping, rub, savage, scallop, scarify, screw, serpentine, shake down, slink, snake, snatch from, soak, spring, squeeze, stab, steep, sting, swirl, tear from, tearing, torment, torsion, tortuosity, torture, try, turn, turn awry, tweak, twine, twirl, twist, twist and turn, unsymmetry, warp, whirl, whorl, wind, worm, wound, wrench, wrench from, wrenching, wrest, wresting, wring from, wring out, wringing, writhe, wry
 |
Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |