From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wring \Wring\, v. i.
To writhe; to twist, as with anguish.
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'T is all men's office to speak patience
To those that wring under the load of sorrow. --Shak.
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Look where the sister of the king of France
Sits wringing of her hands, and beats her breast.
--Marlowe.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wring \Wring\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrung, Obs. Wringed; p.
pr. & vb. n. Wringing.] [OE. wringen, AS. wringan; akin to
LG. & D. wringen, OHG. ringan to struggle, G. ringen, Sw.
vr[aum]nga to distort, Dan. vringle to twist. Cf. Wrangle,
Wrench, Wrong.]
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1. To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence;
to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes
in washing. "Earnestly wringing Waverley's hand." --Sir W.
Scott. "Wring him by the nose." --Shak.
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[His steed] so sweat that men might him wring.
--Chaucer.
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The king began to find where his shoe did wring him.
--Bacon.
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The priest shall bring it [a dove] unto the altar,
and wring off his head. --Lev. i. 15.
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2. Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to torture.
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Too much grieved and wrung by an uneasy and strait
fortune. --Clarendon.
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Didst thou taste but half the griefs
That wring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus
coldly. --Addison.
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3. To distort; to pervert; to wrest.
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How dare men thus wring the Scriptures? --Whitgift.
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4. To extract or obtain by twisting and compressing; to
squeeze or press (out); hence, to extort; to draw forth by
violence, or against resistance or repugnance; -- usually
with out or form.
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Your overkindness doth wring tears from me. --Shak.
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He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the
fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the
fleece. --Judg. vi.
38.
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5. To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress, in order
to enforce compliance.
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To wring the widow from her 'customed right. --Shak.
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The merchant adventures have been often wronged and
wringed to the quick. --Hayward.
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6. (Naut.) To bend or strain out of its position; as, to
wring a mast.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wring \Wring\, n.
A writhing, as in anguish; a twisting; a griping. [Obs.]
--Bp. Hall.
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