Definition of: torture

(tôr′chər) noun
1. Infliction of or subjection to extreme physical pain.
2. A former judicial mode of getting evidence by inflicting pain.
3. Great mental suffering; agony.
4. Something that causes severe pain.
5. A violent perversion or straining. See synonyms under AGONY, PAIN.
—v.t. ·tured, ·tur·ing
1. To inflict extreme pain upon; cause to suffer keenly in body or mind; specifically, to put to judicial torture.
2. To twist or turn into an abnormal form; distort; wrench. [<OF <L tortura, lit., a twisting <tortus. See TORSION.]
—tor′tur·er noun