Noun Waiting is just torture for me. Listening to him can be torture. Verb The report revealed that prisoners had been repeatedly tortured. Don't torture yourself over the mistake.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Critics call the extreme interrogation tactics torture. Catherine Herridge, CBS News, 11 Sep. 2022 The torture allegations led to concerns that the U.S. might have ruined its chance to put Mohammed on trial in a civilian court. Larry Neumeister, Chron, 11 Sep. 2022 Elendil catalogs the rabid construction of arms and warships, whispered denunciations, disappearances, torture behind closed doors. John Garth, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Sep. 2022 Kail said online that the gruesome photos in the album depict bodies piled on the streets, executions and graphic torture. Morgan Sung, NBC News, 7 Sep. 2022 And the United Nations also bans 15-day solitary confinement, labeling the practice as torture. Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022 He was forced to endure solitary confinement for 250 days, in violation of the UN's Nelson Mandela rules, which characterize imprisonment of over 15 days in solitary confinement as torture. Carine Kanimba And Anaïse Kanimba, CNN, 17 June 2022 His accusers claim that the drugs, far from being recreational, were often used as another means of control, evoking interrogation methods that have been denounced as torture by human rights groups. Jason Newman, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2021 The government says that medical examinations haven’t found evidence of torture. Saeed Shah, WSJ, 22 Aug. 2022
Verb
For example, why were American women encouraged to torture themselves with cage-like corsets, don yards of cumbersome cloth and carry around a heavy protuberance called a bustle? John Kelly, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022 The researchers believe that these chemical changes all come together and cause octopuses to torture themselves. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 19 May 2022 In a suburb of Stockholm in 1982, 12-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) dreams of revenge against the bullies who torture him at school. Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 5 May 2022 And now whoever is maniacal enough to torture us controls the stereo. Dalton Ross, EW.com, 3 Aug. 2022 Who would abduct him, torture him for days and toss him onto a rubbish tip? Tom Nolan, WSJ, 27 May 2022 For years, scientists have wondered why octopuses torture themselves after mating. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 19 May 2022 That’s his trainer, Julian Bah, who Ellis says loves to torture him. Milan Polk, Men's Health, 17 May 2022 Alicia Duran Raymundo, her partner and their 6-year-old daughter fled El Salvador after gang members threatened to torture and kill them. Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle French, from Old French, from Late Latin tortura, from Latin tortus, past participle of torquēre to twist; probably akin to Old High German drāhsil turner, Greek atraktos spindle