01 v. t. To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes in washing.
imp. & p. p.
Wrung; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wringing
-
1.
To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes in washing.“[His steed] so sweat that men might him wring.” — Chaucer.“The king began to find where his shoe did wring him.” — Bacon.“The priest shall bring it [a dove] unto the altar, and wring off his head.” — Lev. i. 15.
-
2.
Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to torture.“Too much grieved and wrung by an uneasy and strait fortune.” — Clarendon.“Didst thou taste but half the griefs That wring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus coldly.” — Addison.
-
3.
To distort; to pervert; to wrest.“How dare men thus wring the Scriptures?” — Whitgift.
-
4.
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 or form.“Your overkindness doth wring tears from me.” — Shak.“He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece.” — Judg. vi. 38.
-
5.
To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress, in order to enforce compliance.“To wring the widow from her 'customed right.” — Shak.“The merchant adventures have been often wronged and wringed to the quick.” — Hayward.
-
6.
To bend or strain out of its position; as, to wring a mast.(Naut.)