an·guish

[ang-gwish]
noun
1.
excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain: the anguish of grief.
verb (used with object)
2.
to inflict with distress, suffering, or pain.
verb (used without object)
3.
to suffer, feel, or exhibit anguish: to anguish over the loss of a loved one.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English anguisse < Old French < Latin angustia tight place, equivalent to angust(us) narrow + -ia -ia; cf. anxious; akin to anger


1. agony, torment, torture. See pain.


1. delight, comfort, relief.
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World English Dictionary
anguish (ˈæŋɡwɪʃ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  extreme pain or misery; mental or physical torture; agony
 
vb
2.  to afflict or be afflicted with anguish
 
[C13: from Old French angoisse a strangling, from Latin angustia narrowness, from angustus narrow]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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00:10
Anguish is one of our favorite verbs.
So is yaff. Does it mean:
to bark; yelp.
to spend time idly; loaf.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

anguish
early 13c., "acute bodily or mental suffering," from O.Fr. anguisse, angoisse "choking sensation, distress, anxiety, rage," from L. angustia "tightness, distress," from ang(u)ere "to throttle, torment" (see anger). The verb is attested from early 14c., intrans.; late 14c., trans.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The film shows that freedom is fraught with anguish and pain.
Add to that pain the anguish of dozens of relatives and friends.
So great was the extremity of his pain and anguish, that he did not only sigh
  but roar.
And the anguish of the singer marks the sweetness of the strain.
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