Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To twist, squeeze, or compress, especially so as to extract liquid. Often used with out.
- transitive verb To extract (liquid) by twisting or compressing. Often used with out.
- transitive verb To wrench or twist forcibly or painfully.
- transitive verb To clasp and twist or squeeze (one's hands), as in distress.
- transitive verb To clasp firmly and shake (another's hand), as in congratulation.
- transitive verb To cause distress to; affect with painful emotion.
- transitive verb To obtain or extract by applying force or pressure.
- noun The act or an instance of wringing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A wringer or presser; a wine-press or cider-press.
- noun Action expressive of anguish; writhing.
- To twist in the hands, as something flexible; twist or flex forcibly: as, to
wring clothes after washing, to force out the water; to wring a friend's hand in cordial greeting: often with out. - To twist out of place, shape, or relation; bend or strain tortuously or twistingly: as, to
wring a mast; to wring the neck of a chicken. - To turn or divert the course or purport of; distort; pervert.
- To affect painfully by or as if by some contorting or compressing action or effect; torture; rack; distress; pain.
- To force out, as a fluid, by twisting or contorting pressure; extract or obtain by or as if by a squeezing flexure; hence, to squeeze out in any way; extort: as, to
wring water from clothes; to wring a reluctant consent from a person: often with out. - To free from a liquid by twisting or compression: as, to
wring out clothes. - To writhe; twist about, as with anguish; squirm; suffer torture.
- To pinch; pain.
- To force one's way by pressure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A writhing, as in anguish; a twisting; a griping.
- intransitive verb To writhe; to twist, as with anguish.
- transitive verb To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch.
- transitive verb Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to torture.
- transitive verb To distort; to pervert; to wrest.
- transitive verb 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 orform . - transitive verb To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress, in order to enforce compliance.
- transitive verb (Naut.) To bend or strain out of its position.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To squeeze or twist tightly so that liquid is forced out.
- verb To obtain by force.
- verb To hold tightly and press or twist.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb twist and press out of shape
- noun a twisting squeeze
- verb obtain by coercion or intimidation
- verb twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish
- verb twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Note how few public concessions (none) Obama was able to wring from the Chinese about
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Now this is nothing more than an attempt on the part of the translator to wring from the Old English lines some scrap of proof for the peculiar theory that he holds of the origin of the poem.
The Translations of Beowulf A Critical Bibliography Chauncey Brewster Tinker 1919
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These improved weapons will inevitably demand the rearmament of the armies of Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and Russia, at an estimated cost of not less than $754,000,000, a sum which will tax the wits of the parliaments to wring from the groaning workers.
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Note how few public concessions (none) Obama was able to wring from the Chinese about
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They have yet to see the details of the deal, as any of us have, but they were encouraged by the fact that it looked like the FTC was able to kind of wring some more out of America Online and Time Warner.
CNN Transcript - Breaking News: FTC Approves Merger of AOL and Time Warner - December 14, 2000 2000
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The only qualification the British were able to wring from the Japanese was that the closing of the Burma Road—now China’s last link to the world—would last for only three months, a period of time that would give Japan and China an opportunity to reach a peace settlement.
The Last Empress Hannah Pakula 2009
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Here is a pun on 'wring' and 'ring'; and 'sol-fa' is used as an equivalent for 'sing.'
Shakespeare and Music With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries 1900
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It was the story of her life -- a simple tale of ordinary things, such as wring the quiet hearts and train the unnoticed saints of this world.
Marcella Humphry Ward 1885
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"Now, Peggy, my dear," said her husband when it was finished, "get in there -- off wi 'your things an' wring 'em out."
The Coxswain's Bride also, Jack Frost and Sons; and, A Double Rescue 1859
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And mark the deep and voiceless gush Of f eelings - such as wring the heart That grave - the spade - the coffin - pall,
De la philosophie de la nature Delisle de Sales, J., 1741-1816 1770
whichbe commented on the word wring
Wring my bell.
December 18, 2008
pikachu commented on the word wring
'Oh, but I will wring your heart yet!' he cried at the invisible darkness.
-Heart of Darkness, Conrad
March 20, 2011