Nearby Words
noun
1.
the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.
2.
a method of inflicting such pain.
3.
Often, tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone.
4.
extreme anguish of body or mind; agony.
5.
a cause of severe pain or anguish.
verb (used with object)
6.
to subject to torture.
7.
to afflict with severe pain of body or mind: My back is torturing me.
8.
to force or extort by torture: We'll torture the truth from his lips!
9.
to twist, force, or bring into some unnatural position or form: trees tortured by storms.
10.
to distort or pervert (language, meaning, etc.).
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Self-torture
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Related forms
tor·tur·a·ble, adjective
tor·tured·ly, adverb
tor·tur·er, noun
tor·ture·some, adjective
tor·tur·ing·ly, adverb
EXPANDo·ver·tor·ture, verb (used with object), -tured, -tur·ing.
pre·tor·ture, noun, verb (used with object), -tured, -tur·ing.
self-tor·ture, noun
self-tor·tured, adjective
self-tor·tur·ing, adjective
un·tor·tured, adjective
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To self-torture
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
torture
c.1495 (implied in torturous), from M.Fr. torture "infliction of great pain, great pain, agony," from L.L. torture "a twisting, writhing, torture, torment," from stem of L. torquere "to twist, turn, wind, wring, distort" (see thwart). The verb is 1588, from the noun. Tortuous
EXPAND"full of twists" is recorded from 1426.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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