The AI-powered English dictionary
countable and uncountable, plural tortures
The intentional causing of somebody's experiencing of agony, usually as an interrogation technique or punishment. quotations examples
If Cheney calls it enhanced interrogation, he argues, this still doesn’t change the meaning of the word torture, which Cheney and the public know perfectly well. But cognitive linguists like Lakoff (1996) remind us that the public can be manipulated into believing that torture is “merely” an enhanced interrogation technique and thus does not protest.
2014 January, Claire Kramsch, “Language and Culture”, in AILA Review, volume 27, number 5, John Benjamins, page 35
Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011).
2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Harvard University Press, page 12
(chiefly literary) The "suffering of the heart" imposed by one on another, as in personal relationships. examples
(colloquial) (often as "absolute torture") Stage fright; severe embarrassment. examples
third-person singular simple present tortures, present participle torturing, simple past and past participle tortured
(transitive) To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone), usually with the aim of forcing confessions or punishing them. examples