torture
Other forms: tortured; tortures; torturing
To torture is to torment or purposefully put someone through intense pain or agony.
The word torture comes from the word for "harm." It can refer to the deliberate infliction of physical or mental suffering in order to punish or obtain information; the act of distorting something, so it means something it wasn't intended to mean; or extreme mental distress or unbearable physical pain not necessarily inflicted by another.
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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 reasonsynonyms: torturingtypes:bastinado, falangaa form of torture in which the soles of the feet are beaten with whips or cudgelsboota form of foot torture in which the feet are encased in iron and slowly crushedburninga form of torture in which cigarettes or cigars or other hot implements are used to burn the victim's skingenital tortureblunt or penetrating trauma or rape (vaginal or anal)judicial torturetorture that is sanctioned by the state and executed by duly accredited officialskia quena form of foot torture used by the Chinese in which the victim's foot was placed between three pieces of bamboo and systematically squeezedkitteea 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 morepicket, piqueta 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 stakeprolonged interrogationa form of psychological torture inflicted by questioning the victim for hoursracka form of torture in which pain is inflicted by stretching the bodysensory deprivationa form of psychological torture inflicted by depriving the victim of all sensory inputsleep deprivationa form of psychological torture inflicted by depriving the victim of sleepstrapado, strappadoa 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 ropeelectric shockthe use of electricity to administer punishment or torturetype of:persecutionthe act of persecuting (especially on the basis of race or religion)
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intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
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unbearable physical pain
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extreme mental distress
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subject to torture
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torment emotionally or mentally
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the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to meansynonyms: distortion, overrefinement, straining, twisting
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Vocabulary lists containing torture
Here are links to our lists for the play: Act I, Act II, Act III, Act IV, Act V Here are links to other plays by William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Turn your attention to these words derived from the Latin root tor, meaning "to twist and turn" and "to distort."
An aspirin can fix a headache, but what's the cure for a weak vocabulary? It can't hurt to learn this list of words related to pain and injury! For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.