Meaning of "torture" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD TORTURE

From Late Latin tortūra a twisting, from torquēre to twist.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF TORTURE

torture  [ˈtɔːtʃə]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF TORTURE

Torture is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb torture in English.

WHAT DOES TORTURE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Torture

Torture is the act of deliberately inflicting severe physical or psychological pain and possibly injury to a person, usually to one who is physically restrained or otherwise under the torturer's control or custody and unable to defend against what is being done to them. Torture has been carried out or sanctioned by individuals, groups and states throughout history from ancient times to modern day, and forms of torture can vary greatly in duration from only a few minutes to several days or even longer. Reasons for torture can include punishment, revenge, political re-education, deterrence, interrogation or coercion of the victim or a third party, or simply the sadistic gratification of those carrying out or observing the torture. The torturer may or may not intend to kill or injure the victim, but sometimes torture is deliberately fatal and can precede a murder or serve as a cruel form of capital punishment. In other cases, the torturer may be indifferent to the condition of the victim. Alternatively, some forms of torture are designed to inflict psychological pain or leave as little physical injury or evidence as possible while achieving the same psychological devastation.

Definition of torture in the English dictionary

The first definition of torture in the dictionary is to cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etc. Other definition of torture is to give mental anguish to. Torture is also to twist into a grotesque form.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO TORTURE

PRESENT

Present

I torture

you torture

he/she/it tortures

we torture

you torture

they torture

Present continuous

I am torturing

you are torturing

he/she/it is torturing

we are torturing

you are torturing

they are torturing

Present perfect

I have tortured

you have tortured

he/she/it has tortured

we have tortured

you have tortured

they have tortured

Present perfect continuous

I have been torturing

you have been torturing

he/she/it has been torturing

we have been torturing

you have been torturing

they have been torturing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I tortured

you tortured

he/she/it tortured

we tortured

you tortured

they tortured

Past continuous

I was torturing

you were torturing

he/she/it was torturing

we were torturing

you were torturing

they were torturing

Past perfect

I had tortured

you had tortured

he/she/it had tortured

we had tortured

you had tortured

they had tortured

Past perfect continuous

I had been torturing

you had been torturing

he/she/it had been torturing

we had been torturing

you had been torturing

they had been torturing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will torture

you will torture

he/she/it will torture

we will torture

you will torture

they will torture

Future continuous

I will be torturing

you will be torturing

he/she/it will be torturing

we will be torturing

you will be torturing

they will be torturing

Future perfect

I will have tortured

you will have tortured

he/she/it will have tortured

we will have tortured

you will have tortured

they will have tortured

Future perfect continuous

I will have been torturing

you will have been torturing

he/she/it will have been torturing

we will have been torturing

you will have been torturing

they will have been torturing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would torture

you would torture

he/she/it would torture

we would torture

you would torture

they would torture

Conditional continuous

I would be torturing

you would be torturing

he/she/it would be torturing

we would be torturing

you would be torturing

they would be torturing

Conditional perfect

I would have torture

you would have torture

he/she/it would have torture

we would have torture

you would have torture

they would have torture

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been torturing

you would have been torturing

he/she/it would have been torturing

we would have been torturing

you would have been torturing

they would have been torturing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you torture
we let´s torture
you torture

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to torture

Past participle

tortured

Present Participle

torturing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «TORTURE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «torture» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of torture

abuse · afflict · agonize · agony · anguish · crucify · distress · harrow · heartbreak · hell · ill-treat · ill-treatment · maltreat · maltreatment · martyr · martyrdom · misery · mistreat · molest · pain · persecute · persecution · rack · scourge · suffering · torment · trouble · worry

TRANSLATION OF TORTURE

Find out the translation of torture to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of torture from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «torture» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 折磨
• Translator English - Spanish: tortura
• English: torture
• Translator English - Hindi: यातना
• Translator English - Arabic: تَعْذِيب
• Translator English - Russian: пытка
• Translator English - Portuguese: tortura
• Translator English - Bengali: যন্ত্রণা
• Translator English - French: torture
• Translator English - Malay: Penyeksaan
• Translator English - German: Folter
• Translator English - Japanese: 拷問
• Translator English - Korean: 고문
• Translator English - Javanese: Nyiksa
• Translator English - Vietnamese: sự tra tấn
• Translator English - Tamil: சித்திரவதை
• Translator English - Marathi: छळ
• Translator English - Turkish: işkence
• Translator English - Italian: tortura
• Translator English - Polish: tortury
• Translator English - Ukrainian: тортури
• Translator English - Romanian: tortură
• Translator English - Greek: βασανιστήριο
• Translator English - Afrikaans: marteling
• Translator English - Swedish: tortyr
• Translator English - Norwegian: tortur

10 QUOTES WITH «TORTURE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word torture.

1

Victoria Abril

When you have to get into the character each morning, give it your voice, your face, it was torture.

2

Odette Annable

Beauty is what attracts men naturally, but really I think we dress for other women, not necessarily for men. We torture ourselves every single day, and I wish that we wouldn't because we should all just get along, really.

3

Katharine Lee Bates

Surely martyrs, irrespective of the special phase of the divine idea for which they gladly give up their bodies to torture and to death, are the truest heroes of history.

4

Bob Beauprez

Barack Obama isn't the first politician to break a promise, torture the truth or outright lie to the American people. But, he certainly is among the most accomplished at it.

5

Pat Benatar

When you have girl children they torture you!

6

Charles Bukowski

The male, for all his bravado and exploration, is the loyal one, the one who generally feels love. The female is skilled at betrayal and torture and damnation.

7

Luis Bunuel

In the name of Hippocrates, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival.

8

Luther Burbank

Less than fifteen per cent of the people do any original thinking on any subject. The greatest torture in the world for most people is to think.

9

John Calvin

The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.

10

Linda Chavez

One of the techniques terrorists employ is to allege torture and mistreatment when they are captured, regardless of whether it is true.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «TORTURE»

Discover the use of torture in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to torture and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Torture

The language of Eden

Edward Peters, 1996

Torture and Democracy

This is the most comprehensive, and most comprehensively chilling, study of modern torture yet written.

Darius Rejali, 2009

Torture

Argues that there are moral grounds to use torture where the lives of the innocent are at stake.

Mirko Bagaric, Julie Clarke

Torture is a Moral Issue: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and ...

In this hard-hitting volume two dozen scholars, activists, military officers, and religious leaders call for an immediate end to the practice of torture, paying particular attention to its use in the American war on terror.

George Hunsinger, 2008

Torture: Does it Make Us Safer? is it Ever OK? : a Human ...

Collects fifteen essays discussing the ethics of state-sponsored torture, discussing the practice's history and recent usage, as well as personal experiences from survivors and the families of victims.

Kenneth Roth, Minky Worden, Amy D. Bernstein, 2005

Torture : A Collection: A Collection

Is "don't ask, don't tell" an acceptable response to those who concern themselves about these practices? Addressing these questions and more, this book tackles one of the most controversial issues that we face today.

Sanford Levinson St. John Garwood Chair in Law University of Texas School of Law, 2004

The Big Book of Pain: Torture and Punishment Through History

This fully illustrated guide provides an engrossing and authoritative history of torture throughout history.

Daniel Diehl, Mark Donnelly, 2008

Understanding Torture: Law, Violence, and Political Identity

Legal prohibitions against torture cannot prevent state violence

John T. Parry, 2010

Understanding Torture

Despite Victor Hugo's proclamation (in the 19th-century) that torture no longer exists, we find it in virtually every corner of the world - even now, even in those nations that claim to be paradigms of civility.In this important new book, J ...

J. Jeremy Wisnewski, 2010

Screening Torture: Media Representations of the State of ...

This volume follows the significant shift in the representation of torture over the past decade, specifically in documentary, action, and political films, and it compares the development of this trend in films from the United States, Europe ...

Michael Flynn, Fabiola F. Salek, 2013

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «TORTURE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term torture is used in the context of the following news items.

Chicago approves $5.5M package for police torture victims

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved a $5.5 million reparations package for the victims of the city's notorious police torture scandal that also ... «Fox News, May 15»

Mayor backs $5.5 million reparations deal for Burge police torture …

The city of Chicago on Tuesday sought to put to rest one of its most persistent scandals, proposing a $5.5 million reparations fund for dozens of torture victims ... «Chicago Tribune, Apr 15»

Mom charged with murder, torture after children found in freezer

(CNN) A Detroit mother arrested last month after police discovered the bodies of two of her children inside a freezer was arraigned this week on murder and ... «CNN, Apr 15»

Torture, American-style

The word “enhanced” usually applies to images, food flavors, and consumer electronics, but why not torture as well? The rest of the world has classic torture, ... «Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Dec 14»

The Unidentified Queen of Torture

She dropped the ball when the C.I.A. was given information that might very well have prevented the 9/11 attacks; she gleefully participated in torture sessions ... «The New Yorker, Dec 14»

Why the Torture Report Won't Actually Change Anyone's Views On …

Of course, people will justify their condemnation (or praise) of the CIA's “enhanced interrogation techniques” by claiming that torture doesn't produce reliable ... «TIME, Dec 14»

What Cheney gets wrong on torture

(CNN) -- Who to believe about the CIA's program of enhanced interrogation -- aka, torture? On the one hand, the Senate's report states that it didn't produce any ... «CNN, Dec 14»

Here Are The Most Horrific Details From The Senate Torture Report

On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released the long-awaited summary of its torture report, revealing horrific details about the CIA's post-9/11 ... «Huffington Post, Dec 14»

Accountability and the Torture Report

Mr. Romero's ingenious proposal to pardon those who authorized America's torture crimes to acknowledge that crimes were committed has the added benefit ... «New York Times, Dec 14»

Here's How The US Is About To Change Global Torture Rules

The Obama administration will tell a U.N. anti-torture committee today that the U.S. has reversed a Bush administration rule that had said the ban on torture did ... «ABC News, Nov 14»