Definition Definition

torture - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'torture' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Torture [ n.]
- Extreme pain; anguish of body or mind; pang; agony; torment; as, torture of mind.
- Especially, severe pain inflicted judicially, either as punishment for a crime, or for the purpose of extorting a confession from an accused person, as by water or fire, by the boot or thumbkin, or by the rack or wheel.
- The act or process of torturing.
2 . Torture [ v. t.]
- To put to torture; to pain extremely; to harass; to vex.
- To punish with torture; to put to the rack; as, to torture an accused person.
- To wrest from the proper meaning; to distort.
- To keep on the stretch, as a bow.

Meaning of 'torture' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . torture [ n]
Meaning (1):
- intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
Example in sentence:
  • an agony of doubt;
  • the torments of the damned
Meaning (2):
- 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
Example in sentence:
  • it required unnatural torturing to extract a confession
3 . torture [ v]
Meaning (3):
- subject to torture
Example in sentence:
  • The sinners will be tormented in Hell, according to the Bible