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. [1913 Webster] [His steed]
so sweat that men might him wring. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] The
king began to find where his shoe did wring him. --Bacon. [1913
Webster] The priest shall bring it [a dove] unto the altar, and
wring off his head. --Lev. i.
[1913 Webster]
Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to
torture. [1913 Webster] Too much grieved and wrung by an uneasy and
strait fortune. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster] Didst thou taste but
half the griefs That wring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus
coldly. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
To distort; to pervert; to wrest. [1913 Webster]
How dare men thus wring the Scriptures? --Whitgift. [1913
Webster]
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. [1913 Webster] Your overkindness doth wring tears from me.
--Shak. [1913 Webster] He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust
the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece. --Judg.
vi.
[1913 Webster]
To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress,
in order to enforce compliance. [1913 Webster] To wring the widow
from her 'customed right. --Shak. [1913 Webster] The merchant
adventures have been often wronged and wringed to the quick.
--Hayward. [1913 Webster]
(Naut.) To bend or strain out of its position;
as, to wring a mast. [1913 Webster]
Wrung \Wrung\, imp. & p. p. of Wring. [1913 Webster]
Word Net
wring n : a twisting squeeze; "gave the wet cloth a wring" [syn: squeeze]Verb
2 twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish;
"Wring one's hand" [syn: wrench]
3 obtain by coercion or intimidation; "They
extorted money from the executive by threatening to reveal his past
to the company boss"; "They squeezed money from the owner of the
business by threatening him" [syn: extort, squeeze, rack, gouge]
4 twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract
liquid; "wring the towels" [also: wrung]
wrung See wring
Moby Thesaurus
afflicted, agonized, clawed, convulsed, crucified, distressed, harrowed, hurt, hurting, in distress, in pain, lacerated, lancinated, martyred, martyrized, on the rack, pained, racked, ripped, savaged, suffering, tormented, tortured, twisted, under the harrow, woundedEnglish
Pronunciation
- /'rʌɳ/
- Homophones: rung
Verb
wrung- past of wring
- I wrung out my wet jeans and hung them out to dry.
Translations
past participle of wring
- Dutch: gewrongen