wring

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English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wryngen, wringen, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English wringan, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *wringaną (compare West Frisian wringe, Low German wringen, Dutch wringen, German ringen ‘to wrestle’), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ- (compare Lithuanian reñgtis ‘to bend down’, Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha) ‘fast’), nasalized variant of *werǵʰ- ‘bind, squeeze’. More at worry.

Pronunciation

Verb

wring (third-person singular simple present wrings, present participle wringing, simple past wrung or wrang or (obsolete) wringed, past participle wrung or (obsolete) wringed)

  1. To squeeze or twist (something) tightly so that liquid is forced out. See also wring out.
    I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry.
  2. To extract (a liquid) from something wet, especially cloth, by squeezing and twisting it.
    Put the berries into a cheesecloth and wring the juice into a bowl.
    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Judges 6.38,[4]
      He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece.
    • 1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random, London: J. Osborn, Volume 1, Chapter 14, p. 107,[5]
      [He] wrung the urine out of his perriwig, and lifting up a large stone, flung it with such force against the street-door of that house from whence he had been bedewed, that the lock giving way, it flew wide open,
    • 1952, Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, 1969, Chapter 8, p. 128,[6]
      Heinz could have wrung enough vinegar out of Cally’s look to run his pickle works.
    • 1989, John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany, New York: William Morrow, Chapter 8, p. 381,[7]
      […] he was thrilled by the spectacle of wringing his own blood from the sodden gauze pad into the sodden towel.
  3. To obtain (something from or out of someone or something) by force.
    The police said they would wring the truth out of that heinous criminal.
    • c. 1590 William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act III, Scene 1,[8]
      No, Harry, Harry, ’tis no land of thine;
      Thy place is fill’d, thy sceptre wrung from thee,
    • 1741, Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, London: C. Rivington and J. Osborn, Volume 1, Letter 31, p. 268,[9]
      Torture should not wring it from me, I assure you.
    • 1910, Emma Goldman, “Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure” in Anarchism and Other Essays, New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, pp. 129-130,[10]
      […] the enormous profits thus wrung from convict labor are a constant incentive to the contractors to exact from their unhappy victims tasks altogether beyond their strength […]
    • 1931, Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth, New York: John Day, Chapter 3, p. 35,[11]
      He took his life from this earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food, silver.
    • 1970, Robertson Davies, Fifth Business, Toronto: Macmillan, Part 6, Chapter 2, p. 278,[12]
      […] his confidences were not wrung from him against his will but gushed like oil from a well
  4. To draw (something from or out of someone); to generate (something) as a response.
    Synonyms: elicit, provoke
  5. To hold (something) tightly and press or twist.
    to wring one's hands (with worry, etc.)
    to wring someone's hand (i.e. shake hands with them)
    to wring someone's / an animal's neck
    (Synonyms: strangle, throttle)
  6. To cause pain or distress to (someone / one's heart, soul, etc.).
    Synonyms: torment, torture
  7. (intransitive, obsolete) To twist, as if in pain.
    Synonym: writhe
  8. (obsolete) To give an incorrect meaning to (words, teachings, etc.).
    Synonyms: distort, pervert, twist, wrest
    • 1572, John Whitgift, An Answere to a Certen Libel Intituled, An Admonition to the Parliament, London: Humfrey Toy, p. 39,[27]
      Lord how dare these men thus wring the scriptures?
  9. (obsolete) To subject (someone) to extortion; to afflict or oppress in order to enforce compliance.
    • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act V, Scene 1,[28]
      To wring the widow from her custom’d right,
    • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: John Partridge, p. 144,[29]
      […] the Merchant aduenturers haue beene often wronged and wringed to the quicke,
  10. (nautical) To bend or strain out of its position.
    to wring a mast
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

wring (plural wrings)

  1. A powerful squeezing or twisting action.
    I grasped his hand and gave it a grateful wring.
    • 1697, John Vanbrugh, The Relapse, London: Samuel Briscoe, Act III, p. 45,[30]
      Lo[ry]. […] I have been in a lamentable fright, Sir, ever since your Conscience had the Impudence to intrude into your Company.
      Y[oung] Fas[hion]. Be at peace; it will come there no more: My Brother has given it a wring by the Nose, and I have kick’d it down Stairs.
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London: Cassell, Part 3, Chapter 15, p. 123,[31]
      He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he gave it quite a wring.
    • 1919, Henry Blake Fuller, Bertram Cope’s Year, Chicago: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, Chapter 6, p. 63,[32]
      I tried not to give his poor hand too much of a wring (another of my bad habits); but he took all I gave and even seemed to hang on for a little more.
  2. (obsolete) Pain or distress.
    • 1637, Robert Monro, Monro His Expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment, London, “The first Observation,” p. 3,[33]
      When we have good dayes we slight them, when they are gone, we sinke under the wring of sorrow, for their losse;

References

Etymology 2

From Middle English wrynge (“press”), from Old English wringe.

Noun

wring

  1. (archaic) A device for pressing or compressing, especially for cider.
    Synonym: press
    • 1670, John Evelyn, Sylva, or, A discourse of forest-trees […] ‎[34], London: Jo. Martyn and Ja. Allestry, page 53:
      A Friend of mine having made provision of Apples for Cider, whereof so great a part were found rotten when the time of grind∣ing them came, that they did, as 'twere wash the Room with their Juice, through which they were carried to the Wring.
    • 1753, Hugh Stafford, A treatise on cyder-making, with a catalogue of cyder-apples of character, in Herefordshire and Devonshire. To which is prefixed, A dissertation on cyder and cyder-fruit‎[35], page 48:
      In order to avoid a great deal of trouble, and to perform the work more effectually, by diveſting the new made Cyder of what pummice and other impurities remain; after straining it through a hair ſieve, on its coming from the Wring, or Preſs, it is neceſſary to be provided with a large open vat, keeve, or clive, which will contain a whole pounding, or making of Cyder […]
    • 1826, The Vintner's, Brewer's, Spirit Merchant's, and Licensed Victualler's Guide‎[36], London: W. Whetton, page 216:
      Take any quantity of cider that is old, strong, harsh, or of an inferior quality, and add to it the same quantity of cider from the wring, or press; rouse it up well, and fix it in a warm place, or in the sun, which is certainly the best for its progress […]
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, London: James R. Osgood, Volume 2, Phase 3, Chapter 23, p. 32,[37]
      They tossed and turned on their little beds, and the cheese-wring dripped monotonously downstairs.
Derived terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Verb

wring

  1. (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present indicative of wringen
  2. (deprecated template usage) imperative of wringen

Middle English

Verb

wring

  1. Alternative form of wryngen
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