I. ˈtȯrchər, -ȯ(ə)chə(r noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, from Late Latin tortura act of twisting, torture, from Latin tortus (past participle of torquēre to twist, wind, torture) + -ura -ure; akin to Old High German drāhsil turner, Greek atraktos spindle, Sanskrit tarku
1.
a. : the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, wounding) to punish or coerce someone : torment or agony induced to penalize religious or political dissent or nonconformity, to extort a confession or a money contribution, or to give sadistic pleasure to the torturer
no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment — U.N. Declaration of Human Rights
b. obsolete : an implement of torture
2.
a. : anguish of body or mind : excruciating agony : extremity of suffering
long torture with Parkinson's disease — John Mason Brown
she shrank in her convulsed, coiled torture from the thought of such a thing — D.H.Lawrence
b. : an extreme annoyance or severe irritation : an intense strain : something pernicious or baneful : plague
plays … would be torn line from line for the torture of high school boys and girls — J.D.Adams
many of their sidehill and downhill lies would have been torture to a golfer with 20-20 vision — Tom Siler
3. : distortion, overrefinement, or perversion of a meaning, an argument, or a line of thought or reasoning : straining
no torture in interpretation would be required — E.W.Knight
4. : the subjecting of material or equipment to extreme strain or abuse as a test of strength, endurance, or quality
cars are put through thousands of miles of torture — Visit to the Proving Grounds
II. verb
( tortured ; tortured ; torturing -ch(ə)riŋ ; tortures )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to put to torture : punish or coerce by inflicting excruciating pain
tortured my sister for three months … disfigured her face and broke her hands and legs — Ben Hecht
b. : to extract or obtain by torture
tortured a confession from the prisoner
2. : to cause intense suffering to : inflict anguish on : subject to severe pain : torment
set himself to torture me as a schoolboy would devote a rapturous half hour to watching the agonies of an impaled beetle — Rudyard Kipling
3. : to twist or wrench out of shape : distort , warp
made it an easy matter to torture wooden boards into uncouth shapes — American Guide Series: Connecticut
language … strained and tortured — R.L.Cook
unable to torture her religious experience into the Calvinistic system — C.A.Dinsmore
intransitive verb
: to cause excruciating pain or anguish
Synonyms: see afflict