torture means the infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish. Lexicurio rates it Distinctive — a strength score of 65 out of 100.
torture is pronounced /ˈtɔːt͡ʃə/.
Etymology
From Middle English torture, from Old French torture, from Late Latin tortūra (“a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping colic;” in Medieval Latin “pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion, torture”), from Latin tortus (whence also tort), past participle of torquēre (“to twist”).
noun
- The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.“People confess to anything under torture.”
- The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.; Sexual activity involving the infliction of pain to a certain body part or in a certain manner.“cock and ball torture”
- Severe pain or anguish, of mind or body.
- An unpleasant sensation or its infliction: embarrassment, heartache, etc.“Every time she says 'goodbye' it is torture!”
verb
- To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone), usually with the aim of forcing confessions or punishing them.“1 August 2014, Barack Obama, "Press Conference by the President"; transcript published online by the Obama White House Archives, [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/01/press-conference-president [1]].
With respect to the larger point of the RDI report itself, even before I came into office I was very clear that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we did some things that w”