wring
verb (past and past part. wrung) 1 squeeze and twist to force liquid from. 2 break (an animals neck) by twisting forcibly. 3 squeeze (someones hand) tightly. 4 (wring from/out of) obtain with difficulty or effort. 5 cause great pain or distress to. noun an act of wringing. PHRASES wring ones hands clasp and twist ones hands together as a gesture of distress or despair. ORIGIN Old English, related to WRONG.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
|