wring
noun
- strong squeeze, often with a twist
verb
- twist (a body part) emotionally
- remove liquid from, by twisting
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɹɪŋ/ / /ˈɹɪŋɡ/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English wring, wringe, wrynge (“a press, especially for olives or wine”) [and other forms], from Old English wringe, from wringan (verb): see further at etymology 1.
- A device for compressing or pressing, especially for making cheese, cider from apples, or wine from grapes.
“If you boil Cider eſpecial care muſt be had to put it into the furnace immediately from the vvring; othervviſe, if it be let ſtand in Vats, or veſſels, tvvo or three days after the preſſure, the beſt and moſt ſpiritous part vvill aſcend and fly avvay in the vapours vvhen fire is put under it; […] A Friend of mine having made proviſion of Apples for Cider, vvhereof ſo great a part vvere found rotten vvhen the time of grinding them came, that they did as 'tvvere vvaſh the room vvith their juice, through vvhich they vvere carried to the vvring, had Cider from them not only paſſable, but exceeding good; […]”
“In order to avoid a great deal of trouble, and to perform the work more effectually, by diveſting the nevv made Cyder of vvhat pummice and other impurities remain; after ſtraining it through a hair ſieve, on its coming from the VVring, or Preſs, it is neceſſary to be provided vvith a large open vat, keeve, or clive, vvhich vvill contain a vvhole pounding, or making of Cyder; or as much as can be preſſed in one day: […]”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English wring, wringe, wringen, wryng, wrynge, wryngen, wryngyn, from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ- (“to squeeze, wring”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wring (“to wring”), Saterland Frisian wringe (“to wring”), Dutch wringen (“to wring; to wrest; to writhe”), German ringen (“to wrestle; to struggle; to wring”), wringen (“to wring”), Luxembourgish réngen (“to grapple, wrestle”); also Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast, nimbly, rapidly”), Lithuanian rangýti (“to roll up; to curl, twist, wave”).
- Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
“I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry.”
“[…] Protagenes portrai[e]d Venus vvith a ſponge ſprinkled with ſvvéete vvater, but if once ſhe vvrong it, it vvould droppe blood: […]”
- Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
““I feel I’ve been wrung through a wringer,” Maggie said.”
- Often followed by from or out: to extract (a liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting pressure on it.
“Put the berries into a cheesecloth and wring the juice into a bowl.”
“And whan he roſe vp early on the morow, he wrãge [wrange] yͤ dew out of the fleſe, and fylled a dyſſhe full of water.”
- To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.
“to wring someone’s hand”
“to wring the neck of a chicken”
- To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.
“to wring one’s hands with worry”
“Come you whoſe loues are dead, / And whiles I ſing / Weepe and wring / Euery hand and euery head, […]”
- To bend or strain (something) out of its position; to wrench, to wrest.
“to wring a mast”
“[B]y the couetous prieſtes of Baall through defaulte of good & godly Counſayllours, whome (doubte ye not but this wicked rable founde meanes to wring out of fauour, & to remoue awaye from the Kynges preſence) he was ſo coumpaced, weyghed, perſuaded, woonne, bewitched, peruerted & ſo farre ſeduced: yͭ (as the ſcripture recordeth), he did eiuil in the ſyght of the Lorde euen after the abominacyons of the heathen.”
- To contort or screw up (the face or its features).
“Then would I laugh to ſee my lady pout, / And ſmyle when moſt ſhe wroung her mouth awry; […]”
“VVould'ſt haue me cry, run rauing vp & dovvn, / For my ſons loſſe? vvould'ſt haue me turn rank mad, / Or vvring my face vvith mimick action; / Stampe, curſe, vveepe, rage, & then my boſome ſtrike?”
- To twist or wind (something) into coils; to coil.
- Of a thing (such as footwear): to pinch or press (a person or part of their body), causing pain.
“Myselfe can tell best where my shooe doth wring mee.”
“[T]he muſicke likes me not, and I haue a ſhooe vvrings me to'th heart; beſides I haue a vvomans reaſon, I vvill not daunce, becauſe I vvill not daunce: […]”
- To cause (someone or something) physical harm, injury, or pain; specifically, by applying pressure or by twisting; to harm, to hurt, to injure.
“A Lorde God, howe the gowte wryngeth me by the too!”
“I preethe Tom beat Cuts ſaddle; put a fevv flockes in the point, poor iade is vvroong in the vvithers, out of all ceſſe.”
- To cause (tears) to come out from a person or their eyes.
“And art thou come, Horatio from the deapth, / To aske for iuſtice in this vpper earth? / To tell thy father thou art vnreuengde, / To vvring more teares from Iſabellas eyes: / VVhoſe lights are dim'd vvith ouer-long laments.”
“The gripe of chaunce is vveake, to vvring a teare, / From him that knovves vvhat fortitude ſhould beare.”
- To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.); to distress, to torment.
“And if he had not too much cheriſh’d his natural conſtitution, and propenſity; and been too much griev’d, and wrung by an uneaſy and ſtreight Fortune; he would have been an excellent Man of buſineſs, […]”
“Oh Portius, didſt thou taſte but half the Griefs / That wring my Soul, thou cou’dſt not talk thus coldly, […]”
- To obtain (something) from or out of a person or thing by extortion or other force.
“The police said they would wring the truth out of that criminal.”
“No Harry, Harry, ’tis no Land of thine; / Thy place is fill’d, thy Scepter vvrung from thee, […]”
- To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of someone; to generate (something) as a response.
“O noble ſir! / Your ouer kindneſſe doth vvring teares from me, […]”
“My buſie heart ſhall ſpin it all my dayes: / And vvhen it ſtops for vvant of ſtore, / Then vvill I vvring it vvith a ſigh or grone, / That thou mayſt yet have more.”
- To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance; to extort.
“VVho can be bound by any ſolemne Vovv[…] To vvring the VViddovv from her cuſtom’d right, And have no other reaſon for this vvrong, But that he vvas bound by a ſolemne Oath?”
“[T]he Merchant aduenturers haue beene often vvronged and vvringed to the quicke, […]”
- To cause (someone) to do something or to think a certain way.
“For men be ſo parciall alway to theim ſelfe, that our hart euer thinketh the iudgement wrong, that wringeth vs to the worſe.”
- To change (something) into another thing.
“As the wines which flow from the first treading of the grape are sweeter and better than those forced out by the press, which gives them the roughness of the husk and the stone, so are those doctrines best and sweetest which flow from a gentle crush of the Scriptures, and are not wrung into controversies and common-places.”
- To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning; to twist, to wrest.
“Lord, how dare these men thus wring the scriptures?”
“Or elſe they vvould ſtraine us out a certaine figurative Prelat, by vvringing the collective allegory of thoſe ſeven Angels into ſeven ſingle Rochets.”
- To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or subtle means; to insinuate.
“Drudges, that haue no extraordinarie giftes of bodie nor of minde, filche themselues into some noble-mans seruice, either by bribes or by flatterie, and, when they are there, they so labour it with cap and knee, and ply it with priuie whisperinges, that they wring themsleues into his good opinion ere he be aware.”
“VVe vvring our ſelues into this vvretched vvorld, / To pule, and vveepe, exclaime, to curſe and raile, / To fret, and ban the fates, to ſtrike the earth / As I doe novv.”
- To slide (two ultraflat surfaces) together such that their faces bond.
“For a given set of blocks with lengths in multiples of thousandths the lengths may be so selected as to make it possible, by combining different blocks in wringing contact end to end, to form a series having any desired length, measured in inches and thousandths; […]”
“The number of optical wringing procedures performed for each gauge block was five, and the number of measurements for each wringing procedure was eleven.”
- To be engaged in clasping and twisting (especially the hands), or exerting pressure.
“Go wash well, saith Sommer, with sunne I shall drie, / go wring well, saith Winter, with winde so shall I.”
“[…] Mr. VVet-eyes vvent vvith hands vvringing together.”
- To twist the body in or as if in pain; to writhe.
“No, no, tis all mens office to ſpeake patience / To thoſe that vvring vnder the loade of ſorrovv […]”
“Bel[arius]. He vvrings at ſome diſtreſſe. / Gui[derius]. VVould I could free't.”
- To contend, to struggle; also, to strive, to toil.
“Thus chaunce hath (by exchaunge) the flie ſo trapt, / That ſodainly he loſt his libertee: / The more he wrange, the faſter was he wrapt [in the spider's web] / And all to thencreaſe of his ieoberdee, […]”
- To experience distress, pain, punishment, etc.
“[A]ll Ambaſſadours / (You knovv) haue chiefly theſe inſtructions; / […] / [T]o obſerue the countenances and ſpirites, / Of ſuch as are impatient of reſt; / And vvring beneath, ſome priuate diſcontent: […]”
- Of a lode: to be depleted of ore; to peter or peter out.
- To make a way out with difficulty.