wring

Meanings

Verb

• To squeeze or twist (something) tightly so that liquid is forced out. See also wring out.
• To extract (a liquid) from something wet, especially cloth, by squeezing and twisting it.
• To obtain (something from or out of someone or something) by force.
• To draw (something from or out of someone); to generate (something) as a response.
• To hold (something) tightly and press or twist.
• To cause pain or distress to (someone / one's heart, soul, etc.).
• To slide two ultraflat surfaces together such that their faces bond.
• To twist, as if in pain.
• To give an incorrect meaning to (words, teachings, etc.).
• To subject (someone) to extortion; to afflict or oppress in order to enforce compliance.
• To bend or strain out of its position.

Noun

• A powerful squeezing or twisting action.
• Pain or distress.
• A device for pressing or compressing, especially for cider.

Origin

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