torture

v. inflict excruciating pain, torment, agonize

n. infliction of excruciating pain, torment, pain, anguish

Torture, according to international law, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity." In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may inflict torture on others for similar reasons; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of the torturer, as was the case in the Moors Murders.
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Noun
1. extreme mental distress
(synonym) anguish, torment
(hypernym) distress, hurt, suffering
(derivation) torment, excruciate, rack
2. unbearable physical pain
(synonym) torment
(hypernym) pain, hurting
(derivation) excruciate, torment
3. intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain; "an agony of doubt"; "the torments of the damned"
(synonym) agony, torment
(hypernym) suffering, hurt
(derivation) torment, excruciate, rack
4. the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean
(synonym) distortion, overrefinement, straining, twisting
(hypernym) falsification, misrepresentaation
5. the act of torturing someone; "it required unnatural torturing to extract a confession"
(synonym) torturing
(hypernym) persecution
(hyponym) strappado
(derivation) excruciate, torment
Verb
1. torment emotionally or mentally
(synonym) torment, excruciate, rack
(hypernym) pain, anguish, hurt
(derivation) agony, torment
2. subject to torture; "The sinners will be tormented in Hell, according to the Bible"
(synonym) excruciate, torment
(hypernym) injure, wound
(hyponym) rack
(derivation) torturing

n. torture, torment, grilling

adj. tortured, tormented

v. torture, torment; persecute, oppress

n. torture, torment, agony