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torturemore about torture

torture

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Torture  \Tor"ture\,  n.  [F.,fr.L.  tortura,  fr  torquere  tortum 
  to  twist,  rack,  torture;  probably  akin  to  Gr  tre`pein  to 
  turn,  G.  drechsein  to  turn  on  a  lathe,  and  perhaps  to  E. 
  queer.  Cf  {Contort},  {Distort},  {Extort},  {Retort},  {Tart}, 
  n.,  {Torch},  {Torment},  {Tortion},  {Tort},  {Trope.}] 
  1.  Extreme  pain;  anguish  of  body  or  mind;  pang;  agony; 
  torment;  as  torture  of  mind.  --Shak. 
 
  Ghastly  spasm  or  racking  torture.  --Milton. 
 
  2.  Especially,  severe  pain  inflicted  judicially,  either  as 
  punishment  for  a  crime,  or  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  a 
  confession  from  an  accused  person,  as  by  water  or  fire,  by 
  the  boot  or  thumbkin,  or  by  the  rack  or  wheel. 
 
  3.  The  act  or  process  of  torturing. 
 
  Torture,  whitch  had  always  been  deciared  illegal, 
  and  which  had  recently  been  declared  illegal  even  by 
  the  servile  judges  of  that  age,  was  inflicted  for 
  the  last  time  in  England  in  the  month  of  May  1640. 
  --Macaulay. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Torture  \Tor"ture\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Tortured}  (?;  135);  p. 
  pr  &  vb  n.  {Torturing.}]  [Cf.  F.  Torturer.  ] 
  1.  To  put  to  torture;  to  pain  extremely;  to  harass;  to  vex. 
 
  2.  To  punish  with  torture;  to  put  to  the  rack;  as  to  torture 
  an  accused  person.  --Shak. 
 
  3.  To  wrest  from  the  proper  meaning;  to  distort.  --Jar. 
  Taylor. 
 
  4.  To  keep  on  the  stretch,  as  a  bow.  [Obs.] 
 
  The  bow  tortureth  the  string.  --Bacon. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  torture 
  n  1:  extreme  mental  distress  [syn:  {anguish},  {torment}] 
  2:  unbearable  physical  pain  [syn:  {torment}] 
  3:  intense  feelings  of  suffering;  acute  mental  or  physical 
  pain;  "an  agony  of  doubt";  "the  torments  of  the  damned" 
  [syn:  {agony},  {torment}] 
  4:  the  act  of  distorting  something  so  it  seems  to  mean 
  something  it  was  not  intended  to  mean  [syn:  {distortion}, 
  {overrefinement},  {straining},  {twisting}] 
  5:  the  act  of  torturing  someone  [syn:  {torturing}] 
  v  1:  torment  emotionally  or  mentally  [syn:  {torment},  {excruciate}, 
  {rack}] 
  2:  subject  to  torture  [syn:  {excruciate},  {torment}]




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