torture
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
torture/ˈtɔːtʃə(r)/
▶noun
- 1 the action or practice of inflicting severe pain as a punishment or a forcible means of persuasion.
- 2 great suffering or anxiety.
– derivatives
torturer noun.
torturer noun.
– origin ME: via Fr. from late L. tortura ‘twisting, torment’, from L. torquere ‘to twist’.
'torture' also found in these Oxford entries:
bastinado
- boot
- chamber of horrors
- inquisition
- iron maiden
- pilliwinks
- rack
- roué
- screw
- strappado
- thumbscrew
- torment
- torsion
- torturous
- travail
- water torture

