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wring - 6 dictionary results

wring

  [ring] verb, wrung, wring⋅ing, noun
Use wring in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to twist forcibly: He wrung the chicken's neck.
2. to twist and compress, or compress without twisting, in order to force out water or other liquid (often fol. by out): to wring clothes.
3. to extract or expel by twisting or compression (usually fol. by out or from).
4. to affect painfully by or as if by some contorting or compressing action.
5. to clasp tightly with or without twisting: to wring one's hands in pain.
6. to force (usually fol. by off) by twisting.
7. to extract or get by forceful effort or means (often fol. by out).
–verb (used without object)
8. to perform the action of wringing something.
9. to writhe, as in anguish.
–noun
10. a wringing; forcible twist or squeeze.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME wringen, OE wringan; c. G ringen to wrestle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wring   (rĭng)   
v.   wrung (rŭng), wring·ing, wrings

v.   tr.
  1. To twist, squeeze, or compress, especially so as to extract liquid. Often used with out.
  2. To extract (liquid) by twisting or compressing. Often used with out.
  3. To wrench or twist forcibly or painfully: wring the neck of a chicken.
  4. To clasp and twist or squeeze (one's hands), as in distress.
  5. To clasp firmly and shake (another's hand), as in congratulation.
  6. To cause distress to; affect with painful emotion: a tale that wrings the heart.
  7. To obtain or extract by applying force or pressure: wrung the truth out of the recalcitrant witness.
v.   intr.
To writhe or squirm, as in pain.
n.  The act or an instance of wringing; a squeeze or twist.

[Middle English wringen, from Old English wringan; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Wring

Wring\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrung, Obs. Wringed; p. pr. & vb. n. Wringing.] [OE. wringen, AS. wringan; akin to LG. & D. wringen, OHG. ringan to struggle, G. ringen, Sw. vr["a]nga to distort, Dan. vringle to twist. Cf. Wrangle, Wrench, Wrong.]

1. To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes in washing. "Earnestly wringing Waverley's hand." --Sir W. Scott. "Wring him by the nose." --Shak.

[His steed] so sweat that men might him wring. --Chaucer.

The king began to find where his shoe did wring him. --Bacon.

The priest shall bring it [a dove] unto the altar, and wring off his head. --Lev. i. 15.

2. Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to torture.

Too much grieved and wrung by an uneasy and strait fortune. --Clarendon.

Didst thou taste but half the griefs That wring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus coldly. --Addison.

3. To distort; to pervert; to wrest.

How dare men thus wring the Scriptures? --Whitgift.

4. To extract or obtain by twisting and compressing; to squeeze or press (out); hence, to extort; to draw forth by violence, or against resistance or repugnance; -- usually with out or form.

Your overkindness doth wring tears from me. --Shak.

He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece. --Judg. vi. 38.

5. To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress, in order to enforce compliance.

To wring the widow from her 'customed right. --Shak.

The merchant adventures have been often wronged and wringed to the quick. --Hayward.

6. (Naut.) To bend or strain out of its position; as, to wring a mast.

Wring

Wring\, v. i. To writhe; to twist, as with anguish.

'T is all men's office to speak patience To those that wring under the load of sorrow. --Shak.

Look where the sister of the king of France Sits wringing of her hands, and beats her breast. --Marlowe.

Wring

Wring\, n. A writhing, as in anguish; a twisting; a griping. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : wring
Spanish: torcer, retorcer,
German: wringen,
Japanese: 絞る
More Translations »

wring 
O.E. wringan "press, strain, wring, twist" (class III strong verb; past tense wrang, pp. wrungen), from P.Gmc. *wrenganan (cf. O.E. wringen "to wring, press out," O.Fris. wringa, M.Du. wringhen, Du. wringen "to wring," O.H.G. ringan "to move to and fro, to twist," Ger. ringen "to wrestle"), from PIE *wrengh- "to turn," nasalized variant of *wergh- "to turn," from base *wer- "to turn, bend" (see versus). Wringer "device for squeezing water from clothes" first recorded 1799. Fig. phrase to put (something) through the wringer first recorded 1942, Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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