tortures

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of torture.

   The diary recounted the tortures inflicted on captured soldiers.

   She could not imagine the tortures her ancestors had survived.

   Note

   Uncountable torture names the practice in general. The plural usually counts its particular methods and devices, the techniques themselves taken one by one. It also stretches to smaller torments: the tortures of embarrassment or heartache are figurative but keenly felt. Use the singular for the practice as a whole (torture is forbidden) and the plural for its kinds or instances (the tortures inflicted on prisoners).

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of torture.

   She tortures every rough draft until each sentence reads perfectly.

   Guilt tortures him long after the argument has ended.

   Note

   The verb is strictly transitive: someone or something always tortures a person or a thing, so it never stands without an object. It shares its spelling with the plural noun, and position tells them apart. The verb follows a singular subject (guilt tortures him), while the noun follows an article or adjective (the cruel tortures of guilt).

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