What does "wring" mean?
A powerful squeezing or twisting action.
Wring
/ɹɪŋ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A powerful squeezing or twisting action.
- Grammar: wring is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: squeeze, afflict, agonize, ail.
- Useful contrasts: calm, comfort, composure.
- Usage evidence: You can't wring any more money from me.
How to use "wring"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wring" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wring" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wring" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wring" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "squeeze" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A powerful squeezing or twisting action. also, figuratively
"I grasped his hand and gave it a grateful wring."
- 2 A device for compressing or pressing, especially for making cheese, cider from apples, or wine from grapes. archaic
"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; […]"
- 3 a twisting squeeze wordnet
- 4 Followed by down: the product of wringing, such as cider or wine. dated
"She had just got off her mare to look at the last wring-down of cider for the year; […]"
- 5 A sharp physical pain, especially in the abdomen; also, mental pain or distress. obsolete
"Hens dung ſvvallovved [by a horse] by hap, bringeth frets and vvrings in the bellie: […]"
Verb
- 1 Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out. transitive
"I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry."
- 2 twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish wordnet
- 3 Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.; To squeeze water (from an item of wet clothing) by passing through a wringer. transitive
"“I feel I’ve been wrung through a wringer,” Maggie said."
- 4 twist and press out of shape wordnet
- 5 Often followed by from or out: to extract (a liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting pressure on it. also, figuratively, transitive
"Put the berries into a cheesecloth and wring the juice into a bowl."
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid wordnet
- 7 To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest. also, figuratively, transitive
"to wring someone’s hand"
- 8 obtain by coercion or intimidation wordnet
- 9 To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.; To clasp and twist (hands) together due to distress, sorrow, etc. also, figuratively, transitive
"to wring one’s hands with worry"
- 10 To bend or strain (something) out of its position; to wrench, to wrest. transitive
"to wring a mast"
- 11 To contort or screw up (the face or its features). transitive
"Then would I laugh to ſee my lady pout, / And ſmyle when moſt ſhe wroung her mouth awry; […]"
- 12 To twist or wind (something) into coils; to coil. transitive
- 13 Of a thing (such as footwear): to pinch or press (a person or part of their body), causing pain. transitive
"Myselfe can tell best where my shooe doth wring mee."
- 14 To cause (someone or something) physical harm, injury, or pain; specifically, by applying pressure or by twisting; to harm, to hurt, to injure. British, also, archaic, dialectal, figuratively, transitive
"A Lorde God, howe the gowte wryngeth me by the too!"
- 15 To cause (tears) to come out from a person or their eyes. figuratively, transitive
"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."
- 16 To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.); to distress, to torment. figuratively, transitive
"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, […]"
- 17 To obtain (something) from or out of a person or thing by extortion or other force. figuratively, transitive
"The police said they would wring the truth out of that criminal."
- 18 To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of someone; to generate (something) as a response. figuratively, transitive
"O noble ſir! / Your ouer kindneſſe doth vvring teares from me, […]"
- 19 To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance; to extort. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"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?"
- 20 To cause (someone) to do something or to think a certain way. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"For men be ſo parciall alway to theim ſelfe, that our hart euer thinketh the iudgement wrong, that wringeth vs to the worſe."
- 21 To change (something) into another thing. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"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."
- 22 To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning; to twist, to wrest. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"Lord, how dare these men thus wring the scriptures?"
- 23 To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or subtle means; to insinuate. figuratively, obsolete, reflexive, transitive
"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."
- 24 To slide (two ultraflat surfaces) together such that their faces bond. transitive
"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; […]"
- 25 To be engaged in clasping and twisting (especially the hands), or exerting pressure. intransitive
"Go wash well, saith Sommer, with sunne I shall drie, / go wring well, saith Winter, with winde so shall I."
- 26 To twist the body in or as if in pain; to writhe. intransitive
"No, no, tis all mens office to ſpeake patience / To thoſe that vvring vnder the loade of ſorrovv […]"
- 27 To contend, to struggle; also, to strive, to toil. figuratively, intransitive
"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, […]"
- 28 To experience distress, pain, punishment, etc. figuratively, intransitive
"[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: […]"
- 29 Of a lode: to be depleted of ore; to peter or peter out. intransitive
- 30 To make a way out with difficulty. intransitive, obsolete
Example
"You can't wring any more money from me."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wring"?
Common synonyms include: squeeze, afflict, agonize, ail, anamorphism, anamorphosis.
How do you use "wring" in a sentence?
You can't wring any more money from me.
How do you pronounce "wring"?
Pronounced /ɹɪŋ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English wringen, wryngen from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ-. Cognates * Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast”) * Dutch wringen * Lithuanian reñgtis (“to bend down”) * Middle Low German wringen (Low German wringen) * Old Frisian *wringa (West Frisian wringe) * Old High German rinkan, ringan, ringan (Middle High German ringen, modern German wringen, German ringen (“to wrestle”))
Etymology 2
Partly: * from Middle English wring, wringe (“twisting or wringing (of the neck)”), from Middle English wringen, wryngen (verb); and * from the modern English verb. See further at etymology 1.
Etymology 3
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.