torture (redirected from What is torture?)

tor·ture  (tôrchr)

n.

1.

a. Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion.

b. An instrument or a method for inflicting such pain.

2. Excruciating physical or mental pain; agony: the torture of waiting in suspense.

3. Something causing severe pain or anguish.

tr.v. tor·tured, tor·tur·ing, tor·tures

1. To subject (a person or an animal) to torture.

2. To bring great physical or mental pain upon (another). See Synonyms at afflict.

3. To twist or turn abnormally; distort: torture a rule to make it fit a case.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin tortra, from Latin tortus, past participle of torqure, to twist; see terk^w- in Indo-European roots.]

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tortur·er n.

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torture [ˈtɔːtʃə]

vb (tr)

1. to cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etc. to torture prisoners

2. to give mental anguish to

3. to twist into a grotesque form

n

1. physical or mental anguish

2. the practice of torturing a person

3. a cause of mental agony or worry

[from Late Latin tortūra a twisting, from torquēre to twist]

tortured  adj

torturedly  adv

torturer  n

torturesome , torturous adj

torturing  adj

torturingly  adv

torturously  adv

Usage: The adjective torturous is sometimes confused with tortuous. One speaks of a torturous experience, i.e. one that involves pain or suffering, but of a tortuous road, i.e. one that winds or twists

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torture

• ordeal - From Old English ordel, "judgment," figuratively, an experience testing endurance, patience, courage, etc.—also a test of guilt or innocence that was one of severe pain or torture.
• torment - Comes from a Latin word, tormentum, for an instrument of torture.
• tortuous, torturous - Tortuous is "winding, crooked, full of twists and turns," and torturous, based on "torture," is "painful, characterized by suffering."
• travel - From Latin trepaliare, "torture," it evolved into "journey" from the allusion to the inevitable trouble of medieval travel.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	torture - extreme mental distress               anguish, torment distress, hurt, suffering - psychological suffering; "the death of his wife caused him great distress"
	2.	torture - unbearable physical pain             torment hurting, pain - a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder; "the patient developed severe pain and distension"
	3.	torture - intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain; "an agony of doubt"; "the torments of the damned" agony, torment hurt, suffering - feelings of mental or physical pain
	4.	torture - the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean overrefinement, twisting, straining, distortion falsification, misrepresentation - a willful perversion of facts
	5.	torture - 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; "it required unnatural torturing to extract a confession" torturing persecution - the act of persecuting (especially on the basis of race or religion) falanga, bastinado - a form of torture in which the soles of the feet are beaten with whips or cudgels boot - a form of foot torture in which the feet are encased in iron and slowly crushed burning - a form of torture in which cigarettes or cigars or other hot implements are used to burn the victim's skin excruciation, crucifixion - the infliction of extremely painful punishment or suffering genital torture - blunt or penetrating trauma or rape (vaginal or anal) judicial torture - torture that is sanctioned by the state and executed by duly accredited officials; "the English renounced judicial torture in 1640" kia quen - a form of foot torture used by the Chinese in which the victim's foot was placed between three pieces of bamboo and systematically squeezed kittee - a form of torture used by American Indians in which sensitive parts of the body were squeezed between two boards until the victim could bear no more nail pulling, nail removal - a form of torture in which the fingernails or toenails are removed piquet, picket - a form of military punishment used by the British in the late 17th century in which a soldier was forced to stand on one foot on a pointed stake prolonged interrogation - a form of psychological torture inflicted by questioning the victim for hours rack - a form of torture in which pain is inflicted by stretching the body sensory deprivation - a form of psychological torture inflicted by depriving the victim of all sensory input sleep deprivation - a form of psychological torture inflicted by depriving the victim of sleep strapado, strappado - a form of torture in which the hands are tied behind a person's back and they are lifted off the ground by a rope tied to their wrists, then allowed to drop until their fall is checked with a jerk by the rope electric shock - the use of electricity to administer punishment or torture; "they used cattle prods to administer electric shocks" dismemberment, taking apart - the removal of limbs; being cut to pieces
Verb	1.	torture - torment emotionally or mentally       excruciate, torment, rack anguish, pain, hurt - cause emotional anguish or make miserable; "It pains me to see my children not being taught well in school"
	2.	torture - subject to torture; "The sinners will be tormented in Hell, according to the Bible" excruciate, torment injure, wound - cause injuries or bodily harm to rack - torture on the rack martyrise, martyrize, martyr - torture and torment like a martyr

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torture

verb

1. torment, abuse, persecute, afflict, martyr, scourge, molest, crucify, mistreat, ill-treat, maltreat, put on the rack Police are convinced she was tortured and killed.
torment comfort, soothe, console, alleviate, solace, mollify, salve

2. torment, worry, trouble, distress, pain, rack, afflict, harrow, agonize, give someone grief (Brit. & S. African), inflict anguish on He would not torture her further by arguing.

noun

1. ill-treatment, abuse, torment, persecution, martyrdom, maltreatment, harsh treatment alleged cases of torture and murder by security forces

2. agony, suffering, misery, anguish, hell, distress, torment, heartbreak Waiting for the result was torture.
agony delight, pleasure, joy, well-being, happiness, enjoyment, amusement, bliss

Torture

Instruments of torture 
boot, brake, cat-o'-nine-tails, iron maiden, pilliwinks, Procrustean bed, rack, scourge, thumbscrew, wheel

Types of torture 
bastinado, Chinese water torture, gauntlet, strappado, water cure, water torture

Translations

torture [ˈtɔːtʃəʳ]

A. N

1. (lit) → tortura f
to put sb to (the) torture → torturar a algn

2. (fig) → tormento m
it was sheer torture! → ¡era una verdadera tortura!

B. VT

1. (lit) → torturar

2. (= torment) → atormentar
to be tortured by doubts → ser atormentado por las dudas

C. CPD torture chamber N → cámara f de tortura

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torture [ˈtɔː^rtʃə^r]

n

(= method of punishment, interrogation) → torture f
a medieval torture → une torture médiévale
the use of torture → l'usage de la torture

(= difficult experience) → torture f
It was pure torture → C'était une vraie torture.

vt

(= use torture on) [+ prisoner] → torturer

(= torment) [+ animal, person] → torturer
Stop torturing that poor animal! → Arrête de torturer cette pauvre bête!
torture chamber n → chambre f de torture

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torture

n → Folter f; (fig) → Qual f; instrument of torture → Folterwerkzeug nt; it was sheer torture! (inf) → es war eine wahre Qual or Folter

vt

(lit) → foltern

(fig: = torment) → quälen, peinigen (geh)

(fig: = distort) → verzerren; language → vergewaltigen; tortured language → verkrampfte Sprache; tortured steel → grotesk verbogener Stahl; her hair had been tortured into elaborate curls → ihr Haar war mühsam in kunstvolle Locken gedreht

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torture [ˈtɔːtʃəʳ]

1. n → tortura
it was sheer torture! (fig) → è stata una vera tortura!

2. vt → torturare (fig) → tormentare

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torture

v torture [ˈtoːtʃə]

to treat (someone) cruelly or painfully, as a punishment, or in order to make him/her confess something, give information etc He tortured his prisoners; She was tortured by rheumatism/jealousy. martel يُعَذَّب измъчвам týrat, trápit torturere; plaget af foltern βασανίζω torturar piinama شکنجه کردن kiduttaa torturer לַעֲנוֹת अति कष्ट देना mučiti, podvrgnuti torturi kínoz menyiksa pynta torturare ごう問にかける 고문하다 kankinti mocīt; spīdzināt menyeksa martelen torturere, pine torturować torturar a tortura; a chinui пытать; мучить týrať, trápiť mučiti mučiti tortera, plåga, misshandla ทรมานให้เจ็บปวด eziyet etmek, işkence yapmak 拷問 катувати, піддавати тортурам ايذا دينا hành hạ 拷问

n

1 the act or practice of torturing The king would not permit torture. marteling تَعْذيب мъчение mučení tortur die Folter βασανιστήριο, βασανισμός tortura piinamine شکنجه kidutus torture עִינוּיִים उत्पीड़न mučenje, tortura kínvallatás penyiksaan pyntingar tortura ごう問 고문 kankinimas spīdzināšana penyeksaan het martelen tortur tortury tortura tortură пытка mučenie mučenje mučenje tortyr การทรมาน işkence, eziyet 拷問 катування, тортури ايذا رساني sự hành hạ 拷问

2 (something causing) great suffering the torture of waiting to be executed. marteling عَذاب мъчение muka pine; tortur die Tortur βάσανο, μαρτύριο tortura piin عذاب tuska torture עִינוּי संताप mučenje, patnja kín(lódás) siksaan e-ð sem orsakar kvöl tortura 苦痛 고통 kankynė, kančia mocības seksa marteling seigpining, lidelse, kval męczarnia tortura tortură муки muky muka mučenje kval, pina วิธีทรมาน azap, ıstırap 痛苦，折磨 мука, страждання تکليف، اذيت sự chịu đựng 痛苦，折磨

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torture → تعذيب, يُعَذِب mučení, mučit tortur, torturere Folter, foltern βασανίζω, βασανιστήριο tortura, torturar kiduttaa, kidutus torture, torturer mučenje, mučiti tortura, torturare 拷問, 拷問にかける 고문, 고문하다 martelen, marteling tortur, torturere torturować, tortury tortura, torturar пытать, пытка tortera, tortyr การทรมาณ, ทรมาณ işkence, işkence etmek sự đau đớn ghê gớm, tra tấn 刑讯逼供, 折磨