torture

/'tɔ:tʃə/

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Explanation of the Word "Torture"

Part of Speech: Noun and Verb

Usage Instructions:

• Noun: Use "torture" when you want to describe the act of inflicting pain or suffering, either physical or mental.
• Verb: Use "torture" when you describe the action of causing pain or distress, whether to a person or in a metaphorical sense.

Example Sentences:

• Noun: The documentary revealed the torture that many prisoners faced.
• Verb: The guilt he felt after lying to his friend tortured him for weeks.

Advanced Usage:

• Different Meanings: In a more figurative sense, "torture" can describe any situation that causes intense discomfort or distress. For example, "The long wait for the results felt like torture."
• Idioms:
  • "Tortured soul" refers to someone who is deeply troubled or suffering emotionally.
  • "Tortured logic" can describe reasoning that is overly complicated or forced.

Word Variants:

• Torturer (noun): A person who inflicts torture.
  • Example: The torturer was brought to justice for his crimes.
• Torturous (adjective): Describing something that causes extreme pain or suffering.
  • Example: The torturous hike left everyone exhausted.

Synonyms:

• For the noun: agony, torment, suffering, affliction.
• For the verb: torment, anguish, distress, harass.

Phrasal Verbs:

• There are no specific phrasal verbs directly related to "torture," but you might use phrases like "tortured by guilt" or "tortured with doubt" to convey emotional suffering.

Academic

Noun

1. 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
2. the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean
3. intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
   • an agony of doubt
   • the torments of the damned
4. unbearable physical pain
5. extreme mental distress

Verb

1. subject to torture
   • The sinners will be tormented in Hell, according to the Bible
2. torment emotionally or mentally

Synonyms

• torturing
• distortion
• overrefinement
• straining
• twisting
• agony
• torment
• anguish
• excruciate
• rack