Definition of TORTURE

torture

Plural: tortures

Noun

  • extreme mental distress
  • unbearable physical pain
  • intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
  • the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean
  • the deliberate, systematic, or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons in an attempt to force another person to yield information or to make a confession or for any other reason
  • 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.
  • Severe pain or anguish, of mind or body.
  • An unpleasant sensation or its infliction: embarrassment, heartache, etc.

Verb

  • torment emotionally or mentally
  • subject to torture
  • To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone), usually with the aim of forcing confessions or punishing them.

Examples

  • "Every time she says 'goodbye' it is torture!"
  • "People confess to anything under torture."
  • "People who torture often have sadistic tendencies."
  • "Using large dogs to attack bound, hand-cuffed prisoners is clearly torture."
  • "What new tortures await me?"

Origin / 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”).

Scrabble Score: 7

torture is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
torture is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
torture is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

torture is a valid Words With Friends word