torture

TOR-chur/ˈtoɹt͡ʃɚ/UKTAW-chuh/ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

Pluraltortures

Verbtortures, torturing, tortured

4 meanings of torture

Practice

1
nouncountable or uncountable
The deliberate infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as a means of interrogation or punishment; in the plural, the methods or devices designed to cause it.
The report documented the use of torture in the country's prisons.
Confessions obtained through torture are inadmissible in most courts.
2
verbtransitive
To deliberately inflict severe pain or suffering on someone, usually to force a confession or to punish them.
The regime tortured dissidents to silence its opposition.
Interrogators may torture suspects in hopes of forcing a confession.
Similartorment, afflict, agonize, hurt, rack
3
nouncountable or uncountable
Severe pain or anguish, whether of the body or of the mind.
The migraine brought a torture that kept him awake all night.
The endless noise was sheer torture for the patients trying to rest.
Similarpain, anguish, torment, distress, misery
Oppositepleasure, bliss, comfort, relief
4
noununcountable
An unpleasant sensation, or the causing of it, such as embarrassment or heartache.
Waiting to hear whether she got the job was absolute torture.
Watching his favorite team lose by one point was torture.
Similaragony, torment, hell, misery
Oppositebliss, pleasure, delight

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Origin

This word came through Middle English and Old French from Late Latin tortūra ("a twisting, or bodily pain"), which in Medieval Latin meant pain inflicted by authorities to force confessions. It goes back to Latin tortus, the past participle of torquēre ("to twist").