wring

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Often followed by out

   Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.

   • I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry.
   • […] Protagenes portrai[e]d Venus vvith a ſponge ſprinkled with ſvvéete vvater, but if once ſhe vvrong it, it vvould droppe blood: […]
   • O my belly ſeeths like a Porridge-pot, ſome cold water I ſhall boyle ouer elſe; my whole body is in a ſweat, that you may wring my ſhirt; feele here— […]
2. 2

   Often followed by from or out

   Often followed by from or out: to extract (a liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting pressure on it.

   • Put the berries into a cheesecloth and wring the juice into a bowl.
   • And whan he roſe vp early on the morow, he wrãge [wrange] yͤ dew out of the fleſe, and fylled a dyſſhe full of water.
   • At the end of this very long walk stands a woman in white marble, in posture of a laundress wringing water out of a piece of linen, very naturally formed, into a vast lavor the work and invention of M[ichel] Angelo Buonarotti.
3. 3

   To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist

   To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.

   • to wring someone’s hand
   • to wring the neck of a chicken
   • And some I vysyte with brennynge of fyre; / Of some I wrynge of the necke lyke a wyre; […]
4. ›+ 25 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To bend or strain (something) out of its position

      To bend or strain (something) out of its position; to wrench, to wrest.

      • to wring a mast
      • Why, he wrong a club / Once in a fray out of the hande of Belzebub.
   2. 5

      To contort or screw up (the face or its features).

      • Then would I laugh to ſee my lady pout, / And ſmyle when moſt ſhe wroung her mouth awry; […]
      • VVould'ſt haue me cry, run rauing vp & dovvn, / For my ſons loſſe? vvould'ſt haue me turn rank mad, / Or vvring my face vvith mimick action; / Stampe, curſe, vveepe, rage, & then my boſome ſtrike?
      • [W]hen he [a dog] fauneth vpon a man he vvringeth his ſk[i]nne in the forehead.
   3. 6

      To twist or wind (something) into coils

      To twist or wind (something) into coils; to coil.

   4. 7

      Of a thing (such as footwear)

      Of a thing (such as footwear): to pinch or press (a person or part of their body), causing pain.

      • Myselfe can tell best where my shooe doth wring mee.
      • [T]he muſicke likes me not, and I haue a ſhooe vvrings me to'th heart; beſides I haue a vvomans reaſon, I vvill not daunce, becauſe I vvill not daunce: […]
      • Is this not a goodly ſhooe? is it not finely made? and is it not nevve? yet I dare ſaye there is neuer a one of you can tell vvhere it vvringeth me.
   5. 8

      To cause (someone or something) physical harm, injury, or pain

      To cause (someone or something) physical harm, injury, or pain; specifically, by applying pressure or by twisting; to harm, to hurt, to injure.

      • A Lorde God, howe the gowte wryngeth me by the too!
      • I preethe Tom beat Cuts ſaddle; put a fevv flockes in the point, poor iade is vvroong in the vvithers, out of all ceſſe.
      • Then good Euphues wring not a horſe on the withers, with a falſe ſaddle, neither imagin what I am by thy thoughts, but mine own doings: […]
   6. 9

      To cause (tears) to come out from a person or their eyes.

      • And art thou come, Horatio from the deapth, / To aske for iuſtice in this vpper earth? / To tell thy father thou art vnreuengde, / To vvring more teares from Iſabellas eyes: / VVhoſe lights are dim'd vvith ouer-long laments.
      • The gripe of chaunce is vveake, to vvring a teare, / From him that knovves vvhat fortitude ſhould beare.
      • [S]hame upon thee, / It vvrings the Tears from Grillon's Iron Heart, / And melts me to a Babe.
   7. 10

      To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.)

      To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.); to distress, to torment.

      • And if he had not too much cheriſh’d his natural conſtitution, and propenſity; and been too much griev’d, and wrung by an uneaſy and ſtreight Fortune; he would have been an excellent Man of buſineſs, […]
      • Oh Portius, didſt thou taſte but half the Griefs / That wring my Soul, thou cou’dſt not talk thus coldly, […]
      • [T]hough he has wrung my heart, for I am ſick almoſt to fainting, very ſick, my fellow priſoner, yet that ſhall never inſpire me with vengeance.
   8. 11

      To obtain (something) from or out of a person or thing by extortion or other force.

      • The police said they would wring the truth out of that criminal.
      • No Harry, Harry, ’tis no Land of thine; / Thy place is fill’d, thy Scepter vvrung from thee, […]
      • [I]f I could vvring ought from my ſelfe, not vnvvorthie of a iudicious Reader; […]
   9. 12

      To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of someone

      To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of someone; to generate (something) as a response.

      • O noble ſir! / Your ouer kindneſſe doth vvring teares from me, […]
      • My buſie heart ſhall ſpin it all my dayes: / And vvhen it ſtops for vvant of ſtore, / Then vvill I vvring it vvith a ſigh or grone, / That thou mayſt yet have more.
      • [T]hirty ſpies, / VVho threatning cruel death conſtrain'd the bride / To vvring from me and tell to them my ſecret, / That ſolv'd the riddle vvhich I had propos'd.
   10. 13

       To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance

       To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance; to extort.

       • VVho can be bound by any ſolemne Vovv[…] To vvring the VViddovv from her cuſtom’d right, And have no other reaſon for this vvrong, But that he vvas bound by a ſolemne Oath?
       • [T]he Merchant aduenturers haue beene often vvronged and vvringed to the quicke, […]
       • Time wasted is Exiſtence, us'd is Life. And bare Exiſtence, Man, to live ordain’d, / Wrings, and oppreſſes with enormous Weight.
   11. 14

       To cause (someone) to do something or to think a certain way.

       • For men be ſo parciall alway to theim ſelfe, that our hart euer thinketh the iudgement wrong, that wringeth vs to the worſe.
   12. 15

       To change (something) into another thing.

   13. 16

       To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning

       To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning; to twist, to wrest.

       • Lord, how dare these men thus wring the scriptures?
       • Or elſe they vvould ſtraine us out a certaine figurative Prelat, by vvringing the collective allegory of thoſe ſeven Angels into ſeven ſingle Rochets.
   14. 17

       To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or subtle means

       To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or subtle means; to insinuate.

       • VVe vvring our ſelues into this vvretched vvorld, / To pule, and vveepe, exclaime, to curſe and raile, / To fret, and ban the fates, to ſtrike the earth / As I doe novv.
   15. 18

       To slide (two ultraflat surfaces) together such that their faces bond.

       • The number of optical wringing procedures performed for each gauge block was five, and the number of measurements for each wringing procedure was eleven.
   16. 19

       To be engaged in clasping and twisting (especially the hands), or exerting pressure.

       • Go wash well, saith Sommer, with sunne I shall drie, / go wring well, saith Winter, with winde so shall I.
       • […] Mr. VVet-eyes vvent vvith hands vvringing together.
       • jacopo foscari. They will not banish me again?—No—no, / Let them wring on; I am strong yet. / guard. Confess, / And the rack will be spared you.
   17. 20

       To twist the body in or as if in pain

       To twist the body in or as if in pain; to writhe.

       • No, no, tis all mens office to ſpeake patience / To thoſe that vvring vnder the loade of ſorrovv […]
       • Bel[arius]. He vvrings at ſome diſtreſſe. / Gui[derius]. VVould I could free't.
       • Oh lord how his feat feete and handes he wrang, / Beſeeching his great god, that day to guide him, / And from his mortall ennemie to deuide him: […]
   18. 21

       To contend, to struggle

       To contend, to struggle; also, to strive, to toil.

       • Thus chaunce hath (by exchaunge) the flie ſo trapt, / That ſodainly he loſt his libertee: / The more he wrange, the faſter was he wrapt [in the spider's web] / And all to thencreaſe of his ieoberdee, […]
   19. 22

       To experience distress, pain, punishment, etc.

       • [A]ll Ambaſſadours / (You knovv) haue chiefly theſe inſtructions; / […] / [T]o obſerue the countenances and ſpirites, / Of ſuch as are impatient of reſt; / And vvring beneath, ſome priuate diſcontent: […]
   20. 23

       Of a lode

       Of a lode: to be depleted of ore; to peter or peter out.

   21. 24

       To make a way out with difficulty.

   22. 25

       A powerful squeezing or twisting action.

       • I grasped his hand and gave it a grateful wring.
       • The VVring by the hand, and the Banquet is ours.
       • And hauing clipt them vvith pretence of loue, / Haue I not cruſht them vvith a cruell vvring?
   23. 26

       Followed by down

       Followed by down: the product of wringing, such as cider or wine.

       • She had just got off her mare to look at the last wring-down of cider for the year; […]
   24. 27

       A sharp physical pain, especially in the abdomen

       A sharp physical pain, especially in the abdomen; also, mental pain or distress.

       • Hens dung ſvvallovved [by a horse] by hap, bringeth frets and vvrings in the bellie: […]
       • When we have good dayes we slight them, when they are gone, we sinke under the wring of sorrow, for their losse; and want teacheth vs the worth of things more truely: and it is a true saying, Blessings appeare not, till they bee vanished.
   25. 28

       A device for compressing or pressing, especially for making cheese, cider from apples, or…

       A device for compressing or pressing, especially for making cheese, cider from apples, or wine from grapes.

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