wring

English

Pronunciation

A man wringing out (etymology 1, sense 1.1) his wet T-shirt.

A wringer can be used to wring (etymology 1, sense 1.1.1) wet clothes to remove excess water from them before they are put into a dryer.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: rĭng, IPA^(key): /ɹɪŋ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Homophone: ring
• Rhymes: -ɪŋ

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-.

Verb

wring (third-person singular simple present wrings, present participle wringing, simple past wrung or (archaic or dialectal) wrang or (rare) wringed, past participle wrung or (rare) wringed)

1. (transitive)
   2. Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.

      I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry.

      • 1580, John Lyly, Euphues and His England. , London: Thomas East, for Gabriell Cawood, , →OCLC; republished in Edward Arber, editor, Euphues. The Anatomy of Wit. Euphues and His England. , London: Alex Murray & Son, , 1 October 1868, →OCLC, page 325:

        […] Protagenes portrai[e]d Venus with a ſponge ſprinkled with ſweete water, but if once ſhe wrong it, it would drop bloud: […]

      • c. 1626 or 1629–1633 (first performance), [John Ford], ’Tis Pitty Shee’s a Whore , London: Nicholas Okes for Richard Collins, , published 1633, →OCLC, Act III, signature , verso:

        O my belly ſeeths like a Porridge-pot, ſome cold vvater I ſhall boyle ouer elſe; my vvhole body is in a ſvveat, that you may vvring my ſhirt; feele here— […]

      • 1684, Robert Boyle, “An Essay on the Porousness of Animal Bodies. Chapter III.”, in Experiments and Considerations about the Porosity of Bodies, in Two Essays, London: Sam Smith , →OCLC, pages 10–11:

        [T]hat greater numbers of them [pores], […] are perforations that paſs quite through the Leather, may, not improbably, be ſhevvn by the uſual Practice of Chymiſts, to purify Quick-ſilver by typing it up ſtrictly in a piece of kids or ſheeps Leather, and then vvringing it hard to force it out; […]

      • 1838, [Edgar Allan Poe], chapter XIII, in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. , New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, , →OCLC, pages 122–123:

        [W]e contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by suffering the shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them so as to let the grateful fluid trickle into our mouths.

      • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXI, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz , →OCLC, page 154:

        [H]e had sometimes wrung a dirty dishcloth into a customer’s soup before taking it in, just to be revenged upon a member of the bourgeoisie.

      2. To squeeze water from (an item of wet clothing) by passing through a wringer.
         • 1988, Anne Tyler, chapter 1, in Breathing Lessons (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, part 1, page 25:

           “I feel I’ve been wrung through a wringer,” Maggie said.

   3. (also figuratively) Often followed by from or out: to extract (a liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting pressure on it.

      Put the berries into a cheesecloth and wring the juice into a bowl.

      • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble,  (Coverdale Bible), , →OCLC, Judges vj:[38], folio xvi, recto, column 1:

        And whan he roſe vp early on the morow, he wrãge [wrange] yͤ dew out of the fleſe, and fylled a dyſſhe full of water.

      • 1645 May 31 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, , 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, ; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, , published 1819, →OCLC, page 178:

        At the end of this very long walk stands a woman in white marble, in posture of a laundress wringing water out of a piece of linen, very naturally formed, into a vast lavor the work and invention of M[ichel] Angelo Buonarotti.

      • 1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter XIV, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. , volume I, London: [William Strahan] for J. Osborn , →OCLC, page 107:

        [He] vvrung the urine out of his perrivvig, and lifting up a large ſtone, flung it vvith ſuch force againſt the ſtreet-door of that house from vvhence he had been bedevved, that the lock giving way, it flevv vvide open, […]

      • 1857, John Ruskin, “Lecture I”, in The Political Economy of Art: Being the Substance (with Additions) of Two Lectures Delivered at Manchester, July 10th and 13th, 1857, London: Smith, Elder and Co., , →OCLC, page 17:

        [Y]ou have to dig the moor and dry the marsh, to bid the morass give forth instead of engulphing, and to wring the honey and oil out of the rock.

      • 1952, Zora Neale Hurston, “Backstage and the Railroad”, in William Loren Katz, editor, Dust Tracks on a Road (The American Negro: His History and Literature), New York, N.Y.: Arno Press and The New York Times, published 1969, →OCLC, page 128:

        Heinz could have wrung enough vinegar out of Cally’s look to run his pickle works.

      • 1989, John Irving, “The Finger”, in A Prayer for Owen Meany , New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 381:

        […] I thought that he was as pleased by the shock value of what he had to say as he was thrilled by the spectacle of wringing his own blood from the sodden gauze pad into the sodden towel.

   4. (also figuratively) To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.

      Synonyms: strangle, throttle

      to wring someone’s hand (that is, shake hands vigorously with someone)

      to wring the neck of a chicken

      • a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Magnyfycence, a Goodly Interlude and a Mery, ”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: , volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, , published 1843, →OCLC, page 288, lines 1934–1935:

        And some I vysyte with brennynge of fyre; / Of some I wrynge of the necke lyke a wyre; […]

      • 1534 (date written; published 1553), Thomas More, “A Dyalogue of Comforte agaynste Tribulacyon, ”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, , London: Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published April 1557, →OCLC, book II, page 1170, column 1:

        [O]ne toke the other by the tip of the finger, for hand would there none be wrongẽ [wrongen] thorow the grate, […]

      • 1600 (date written), [John Marston], Iacke Drums Entertainment: Or The Comedie of Pasquill and Katherine. , London: [Thomas Creede] for Richard Oliue , , published 1601, →OCLC, Act III, signature E3, recto:

        [W]ith a ſoft ſleeke hand I'le clappe thy cheeke, / And vvring thy fingers vvith an ardent gripe: […]

      • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 3, column 1:

        [I]t is a hint / That vvrings mine eyes too't.

      • 1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], Thomas Shelton, transl., “Treating of that which Befell all Don-Quixote His Train in the Inne”, in The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. , London: William Stansby, for Ed Blount and W. Barret, →OCLC, part 4, page 340:

        [T]here iſſued out of the middeſt of the vvater a ſerpent, of fire, and hee as ſoone as hee perceiued it, leaped vpon her, and hanging by her ſquamie ſhoulders he vvroong her throat ſo ſtraitly betvveene both his armes, that the Serpent perceiuing her ſelfe to be vvell nigh ſtrangled, had no other vvay to ſaue her ſelfe, but by diuing dovvn into the deeps, […]

      • , George Herbert, “The Agonie”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, , →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, , 1885, →OCLC, page 29:

        VVho vvould knovv Sinne, let him repair / Unto mount Olivet; there ſhall he ſee / A man ſo vvrung vvith pains, that all his hair, / His skinne, his garments bloudie be.

      • 1710 March 5 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele], “Wednesday, February 22, 1709–10”, in The Tatler, number 137; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, , London stereotype edition, volume II, London: I. Walker and Co.;  , 1822, →OCLC, page 310:

        Come hither, you dog you, and let me wring your neck round your shoulders.

      • 1760, Oliver Goldsmith, “Letter LXXIX. From the Same .”, in The Citizen of the World: Or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher,  (Parsons’s Select British Classics; XXIX), volume II, London: J Parsons, , published 1794, →OCLC, page 57:

        Tovvards the middle of the laſt act, […] there is no neceſſity for ſpeaking, they are only to groan at each other, they muſt vary the tones of exclamation and deſpair through the vvhole theatrical gamut, vvring their figures into every ſhape of diſtreſs, […]

      • 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Tales of My Landlord, , volume I (The Black Dwarf), Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, ; London: John Murray, , →OCLC, page 158:

        [I]f the warst come to the warst, it's but wringing the head o' him about at last.

      • 1854 September – 1855 January, [Elizabeth Gaskell], “The Shadow of Death”, in North and South. , volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1855, →OCLC, page 195:

        Margaret could not speak for crying; but she wrung his hand at parting.

      • 1929, William Faulkner, “April 8, 1928”, in “The Sound and the Fury”, in The Sound and the Fury & As I Lay Dying, New York, N.Y.: The Modern Library, published 1946, →OCLC, page 320:

        Jason stood, slowly wringing the brim of his hat in his hands.

      • 2008, Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger, 1st UK edition, London: Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page 262:

        Every chance you got you just stared at yourself in a mirror with open lips, and I had to wring your ears to make you do any work.

      1. To clasp and twist (hands) together due to distress, sorrow, etc.

         to wring one’s hands with worry

         • 1607 (first performance), [Francis Beaumont], The Knight of the Burning Pestle, London: [Nicholas Okes] for Walter Burre, , published 1613, →OCLC, Act IV, signature , verso:

           Come you vvhoſe loues are dead, / And vvhiles I ſing / VVeepe and vvring / Euery hand and euery head, […]

         • 1749, [Tobias George Smollett], The Regicide: Or, James the First, of Scotland. A Tragedy. , London: or the benefit of the author, →OCLC, Act IV, scene v, page 56:

           Ah! vvherefore doſt thou vvring thy tender Hands / In vvoeful Attitude?

         • 1798, Maria Edgeworth, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, “On Attention”, in Practical Education, volume I, London: J Johnson, , →OCLC, page 83:

           [P]erſons in violent grief vvring their hands and convulſe their countenances; […]

         • 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “The Sweat of an Honest Man's Brow”, in Our Mutual Friend. , volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1865, →OCLC, book the first (The Cup and the Lip), page 109:

           The wind sawed, and the sawdust whirled. The shrubs wrung their many hands, bemoaning that they had been over-persuaded by the sun to bud; […]

   5. To bend or strain (something) out of its position; to wrench, to wrest.

      to wring a mast

      • 1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], “To the Moste Puissaunt Prince, and Our Moste Redoubted Soueraigne Lord Edward the Sixthe, ”, in Erasmus, translated by Nicolas Udall, The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London: Edwarde Whitchurche, →OCLC, folio viii, verso:

        [B]y the couetous prieſtes of Baall through defaulte of good & godly Counſayllours, whome (doubte ye not but this wicked rable founde meanes to wring out of fauour, & to remoue awaye from the Kynges preſence) he was ſo coumpaced, weyghed, perſuaded, woonne, bewitched, peruerted & ſo farre ſeduced: yͭ (as the ſcripture recordeth), he did eiuil in the ſyght of the Lorde euen after the abominacyons of the heathen.

      • c. 1552 (date written), Nicholas Udall, , : [s.n.], published 1566?; republished as Edward Arber, editor, Roister Doister.  (English Reprints), London: Muir & Paterson, , 24 July 1869, →OCLC, Act I, scene iiii, page 29:

        Why, he wrong a club / Once in a fray out of the hande of Belzebub.

      • 1580, John Lyly, Euphues and His England. , London: Thomas East, for Gabriell Cawood, , →OCLC; republished in Edward Arber, editor, Euphues. The Anatomy of Wit. Euphues and His England. , London: Alex Murray & Son, , 1 October 1868, →OCLC, page 295:

        [N]ow you haue my opinion, you muſt not thinke to wring me from it, for I had rather be as all women are, obſtinate in mine owne conceipt, then apt to be wrought to others conſtructions.

      • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Leviticus 1:15, column 1:

        And the Prieſt ſhall bring it [a dove] vnto the altar, and wring off his head, and burne it on the altar: […]

      • 1662 November 19 (Gregorian calendar); first published 1717, Robert South, “The Seventh and Last Discourse Concerning Temptation. [1 John iii. 3.]”, in Twelve Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions, 6th edition, volume VI, London: J Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, , published 1727, →OCLC, page 421:

        Our Bodies are unhappily made the VVeapons of Sin; and therefore if vve vvould overcome that, vve muſt by an auſtere Courſe of Duty firſt vvring theſe VVeapons out of its Hands.

      • 1817 December (indicated as 1818), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, “Canto Tenth”, in Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century. , London: or Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, ; and C and J Ollier, ; by B. M‘Millan, , →OCLC, stanza XLI, page 232:

        He who but one yet living here can lead, / Or who the life from both their hearts can wring, / Shall be the kingdom's heir, a glorious meed!

      • 1877 September 14, Robert Browning, “La Saisiaz”, in La Saisiaz: The Two Poets of Croisic, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., , published 1878, →OCLC, page 51:

        I shall boast it mine—the balsam, bless each kindly wrench that wrung / From life's tree its inmost virtue, tapped the root whence pleasure sprung, / Barked the bole, and broke the bough, and bruised the berry, left all grace / Ashes in death's stern alembic, loosed elixir in its place!

      • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “What I Heard in the Apple Barrel”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), pages 91–92:

        I'll wring his calf's head off his body with these hands, Dick!

   6. To contort or screw up (the face or its features).
      • 1576, George Whetstone, “The Garden of Unthriftinesse, ”, in The Rocke of Regard, , London: for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard,  (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, , →OCLC, page 119:

        Then would I laugh to ſee my lady pout, / And ſmyle when moſt ſhe wroung her mouth awry; […]

      • 1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. , London: for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde  , published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, signature C2, verso:

        VVould'ſt haue me cry, run rauing vp & dovvn, / For my ſons loſſe? vvould'ſt haue me turn rank mad, / Or vvring my face vvith mimick action; / Stampe, curſe, vveepe, rage, & then my boſome ſtrike?

      • 1607, Edward Topsell, “Of Dogges”, in The Historie of Fovre-footed Beastes. , London: William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 141:

        [W]hen he [a dog] fauneth vpon a man he vvringeth his ſk[i]nne in the forehead.

      • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Fifth. The Court.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: J Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, ; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXXI, page 362:

        When pain and anguish wring the brow, / A ministering angel thou!— […]

      • 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson, “The Brown Box (concluded)”, in More New Arabian Nights: The Dynamiter, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 184:

        He got to bed with these parti-coloured thoughts; passed from one dream to another all night long, the white face of Teresa still haunting him, wrung with unspoken thoughts; […]

   7. To twist or wind (something) into coils; to coil.
   8. Of a thing (such as footwear): to pinch or press (a person or part of their body), causing pain.
      • 1546, John Heywood, chapter V, in Julian Sharman, editor, The Proverbs of John Heywood. , London: George Bell and Sons, , published 1874, →OCLC, part II, page 121:

        Myselfe can tell best where my shooe doth wring mee.

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1601–1602 (date written), attributed to Thomas Dekker and/or Thomas Middleton, Blurt Master-Constable. Or The Spaniards Night-walke. , London: [Edward Allde] for Henry Rockytt, , published 1602, →OCLC, signature , verso:

        [T]he muſicke likes me not, and I haue a ſhooe vvrings me to'th heart; beſides I haue a vvomans reaſon, I vvill not daunce, becauſe I vvill not daunce: […]

      • 1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Paulus Æmilius”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, , London: Richard Field, →OCLC, page 265:

        Is this not a goodly ſhooe? is it not finely made? and is it not nevve? yet I dare ſaye there is neuer a one of you can tell vvhere it vvringeth me.

      • 1620, [Miguel de Cervantes], Thomas Shelton, transl., “Of the Wholesome Discourse that Passed betwixt the Duchesse and Her Damosels with Sancho Pansa, Worthy to be Read and Noted”, in The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha. , London: for Edward Blount, →OCLC, part 2, page 223:

        […] I vvill let no cobvvebs fall into my eyes, for I knovv vvhere my ſhoo vvrings me: […]

      • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, , London: W Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, page 37:

        But for the extirpating of the Rootes and cauſes of the like Commotions in time to come, the King began to find vvhere his Shooe did vvring him, and that it vvas his depreſſing of the Houſe of Yorke, that did ranckle and feſter the affections of his People.

   9. (archaic or British, dialectal, also figuratively) To cause (someone or something) physical harm, injury, or pain; specifically, by applying pressure or by twisting; to harm, to hurt, to injure.
      • a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Magnyfycence, a Goodly Interlude and a Mery, ”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: , volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, , published 1843, →OCLC, page 292, line 2073:

        A Lorde God, howe the gowte wryngeth me by the too!

      • c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; , quarto edition, London: P S for Andrew Wise, , published 1598, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

        I preethe Tom beat Cuts ſaddle; put a fevv flockes in the point, poor iade is vvroong in the vvithers, out of all ceſſe.

      • 1580, John Lyly, Euphues and His England. , London: Thomas East, for Gabriell Cawood, , →OCLC; republished in Edward Arber, editor, Euphues. The Anatomy of Wit. Euphues and His England. , London: Alex Murray & Son, , 1 October 1868, →OCLC, page 249:

        Then good Euphues wring not a horſe on the withers, with a falſe ſaddle, neither imagin what I am by thy thoughts, but mine own doings: […]

      • 1718, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book XVI”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume IV, London: W Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott , →OCLC, page 240, lines 192–195:

        All breathing Death, around their Chief [Achilles] they ſtand, / A grim, terrific, formidable Band [the Myrmidons]: / Grim as voracious VVolves that ſeek the Springs / VVhen ſcalding Thirſt their burning Bovvels vvrings.

   10. (figuratively)
       1. To cause (tears) to come out from a person or their eyes.
          • c. 1587 (date written), [Thomas Kyd], The Spanish Tragedie:  (Fourth Quarto), London: W W for T Pauier, , published 1602, →OCLC, Act III, signature I2, verso:

            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.

          • 1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. , London: for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde  , published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, signature C2, verso:

            The gripe of chaunce is vveake, to vvring a teare, / From him that knovves vvhat fortitude ſhould beare.

          • 1682 December 15 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John] Dryden, [Nathaniel] Lee, The Duke of Guise. A Tragedy. , London: T H for R Bentley , and J Tonson , published 1683, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, pages 26–27:

            [S]hame upon thee, / It vvrings the Tears from Grillon's Iron Heart, / And melts me to a Babe.

          • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “A Migration. The Fortunate Circumstances of Our Lives are Generally Found at Last to be of Our Own Procuring.”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: , volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: B. Collins, for F Newbery, , →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, →OCLC, page 182:

            But it is not, it is not, a ſmall diſtreſs that can vvring tears from theſe old eyes, that have not vvept for ſo many years.

          • a. 1822 (date written), John Keats, “[Tragedies.] Otho the Great: A Tragedy in Five Acts.”, in [Horace Elisha Scudder], editor, The Complete Poetical Works and Letters of John Keats, Cambridge edition, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company , published 1899, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, page 178, column 2:

            A foolish dream that from my brow hath wrung / A wrathful dew.

       2. To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.); to distress, to torment.

          Synonyms: rack, torture, vex

          • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “Book I”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. , volume I, part I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, →OCLC, pages 60–61:

            And if he had not too much cheriſh’d his natural conſtitution, and propenſity; and been too much griev’d, and vvrung by an uneaſy and ſtreight Fortune; he vvould have been an excellent Man of buſineſs, […]

          • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. , London: J Tonson, , published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 3:

            Oh Portius, didſt thou taſte but half the Griefs / That vvring my Soul, thou cou’dſt not talk thus coldly.

          • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “Happiness and Misery rather the Result of Prudence than of Virtue in This Life. ”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: , volume II, Salisbury, Wiltshire: B. Collins, for F Newbery, , →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, →OCLC, pages 133–134:

            [T]hough he has vvrung my heart, for I am ſick almoſt to fainting, very ſick, my fellovv priſoner, yet that ſhall never inſpire me vvith vengeance.

          • 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 135:

            I slept after the prostration of the day, with a stringent and profound slumber which not even the nightmares that wrung me could avail to break.

          • 1927 May, Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (Uniform Edition of the Works of Virginia Woolf), new edition, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, , published 1930, →OCLC, part III (The Lighthouse), page 275:

            And then to want and not to have—to want and want—how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again!

       3. To obtain (something) from or out of a person or thing by extortion or other force.

          The police said they would wring the truth out of that criminal.

          • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 158, column 1:

            No Harry, Harry, ’tis no Land of thine; / Thy place is fill’d, thy Scepter vvrung from thee, […]

          • 1608, Joseph Hall, “To the High and Mightie Prince, Henrie, Prince of Great Britaine, Sonne and Heyre Apparant to Our Soueraigne Lord, Iames, King of Great Brit. &c. All Glorie in Either World”, in Epistles , volume I, London: H L for Samuel Macham & E Edgar , →OCLC, 1st decade:

            [I]f I could vvring ought from my ſelfe, not vnvvorthie of a iudicious Reader; […]

          • 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. , 3rd edition, volume I, London: C Rivington, ; and J. Osborn, , →OCLC, page 168:

            Torture ſhould not vvring it from me, I aſſure you.

          • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. , volume I, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. , →OCLC, pages 125–126:

            Hard hands have wrung from me my goods, my money, my ships, and all that I possessed—Yet I can tell thee what thou lackest, and it may be, supply it too.

            There are two chapter VIIs in this volume; this is the second one.

          • 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 727:

            The malcontents flattered themselves, […] that it would be found impossible to restore public credit, to obtain advances from capitalists, or to wring taxes out of the distressed population, […]

          • 1865 March 4, Abraham Lincoln, The [Second] Inaugural Address of President Abraham Lincoln, Delivered in the National Capitol, March 4th, 1865‎:

            It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged.

          • 1910, Emma Goldman, “Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure”, in Anarchism and Other Essays, New York, N.Y.: Mother Earth Publishing Association , →OCLC, pages 129–130:

            [T]he enormous profits thus wrung from convict labor are a constant incentive to the contractors to exact from their unhappy victims tasks altogether beyond their strength, and to punish them cruelly when their work does not come up to the excessive demands made.

          • 1931 April 23, Pearl S[ydenstricker] Buck, chapter III, in The Good Earth, 3rd British edition, London: Methuen & Co. , published 1931, →OCLC, page 33:

            Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain on the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver—out of his earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself on. He took his life from this earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food silver.

          • 1970, Robertson Davies, “The Soirée of Illusions”, in Fifth Business , Toronto, Ont.: Macmillan of Canada, →ISBN, section 2, page 278:

            [H]is confidences were not wrung from him against his will but gushed like oil from a well, […]

       4. To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of someone; to generate (something) as a response.

          Synonyms: elicit, provoke

          • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. , quarto edition, London: V S for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

            O noble ſir! / Your ouer kindneſſe doth vvring teares from me, […]

          • , George Herbert, “Praise”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, , →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, , 1885, →OCLC, page 151:

            My buſie heart ſhall ſpin it all my dayes: / And vvhen it ſtops for vvant of ſtore, / Then vvill I vvring it vvith a ſigh or grone, / That thou mayſt yet have more.

          • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 72, lines 208–211:

            [T]hirty ſpies, / VVho threatning cruel death conſtrain'd the bride / To vvring from me and tell to them my ſecret, / That ſolv'd the riddle vvhich I had propos'd.

          • 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Notes. IV. Page 54. Falsehood and Vice: A Dialogue.”, in Queen Mab; , London: P. B. Shelley, , →OCLC, page 130:

            Whilst monarchs laughed upon their thrones / To hear a famished nation's groans, / And hugged the wealth wrung from the woe / That makes its eyes and veins o'erflow,— […]

          • 1819, John Keats, “Ode to Psyche”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, , published 1820, →OCLC, page 117:

            O Goddess! hear these tuneless numbers, wrung / By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear,

          • 1846, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Evening Solace”, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, London: Smith, Elder and Co., , published , →OCLC, page 122:

            And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish, / Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

          • 1855, Frederick Douglass, “‘A Change Came o’er the Spirit of My Dream’”, in My Bondage and My Freedom. , New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan , →OCLC, part I (Life as a Slave), page 156:

            Words like these, I observed, always troubled them; and I had no small satisfaction in wringing from the boys, occasionally, that fresh and bitter condemnation of slavery, that springs from nature, unseared and unperverted.

       5. (obsolete) To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance; to extort.
          • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies.  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 145, column 1:

            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?

          • a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: for Iohn Partridge, , published 1630, →OCLC, page 144:

            [T]he Merchant aduenturers haue beene often vvronged and vvringed to the quicke, […]

          • 1742, [Edward Young], “Night the Second. On Time, Death, Friendship. ”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: [Samuel Richardson] for A Millar , and R Dodsley , published 1750, →OCLC, page 29:

            Time vvaſted is Exiſtence, us'd is Life. / And bare Exiſtence, Man, to live ordain'd, / VVrings, and oppreſſes vvith enormous VVeight.

       6. (obsolete) To cause (someone) to do something or to think a certain way.
          • 1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion . Chapter III.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, , London: Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published April 1557, →OCLC, book III, page 210, column 1:

            For men be ſo parciall alway to theim ſelfe, that our hart euer thinketh the iudgement wrong, that wringeth vs to the worſe.

       7. (obsolete) To change (something) into another thing.
          • 1844 January–December, Leigh Hunt, “Christmas and Italy; or, A Modest Essay, Showing the Extreme Fitness of This Book for the Season”, in A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., , published 1848, →OCLC, page xvii:

            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.

            Attributed by the author to Francis Bacon.

       8. (obsolete) To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning; to twist, to wrest.

          Synonyms: distort, pervert

          • 1572, John Whitgift, “Whether Idolatrous Sacrificers and Mass-mongers may afterward be Ministers of the Gospel. Chap. ii. The First Division.”, in John Ayre, editor, The Works of John Whitgift, D.D.,  The First Portion, Containing the Defence of the Answer to the Admonition, against the Reply of Thomas Cartwright: Tractates I–VI, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press , published 1851, →OCLC, tract III (Of the Election of Ministers), page 318:

            Lord, how dare these men thus wring the scriptures?

          • 1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “To the Argument of B Andrews and the Primat”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty , London: E G for Iohn Rothwell, , →OCLC, 1st book, page 8:

            Or elſe they vvould ſtraine us out a certaine figurative Prelat, by vvringing the collective allegory of thoſe ſeven Angels into ſeven ſingle Rochets.

       9. (obsolete, reflexive) To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or subtle means; to insinuate.
          • 1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. , London: [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, , →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] Payne Collier, editor, Pierce Penniless’s Supplication to the Devil. , London: for the Shakespeare Society, 1842, →OCLC, page 23:

            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.

          • c. 1599 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], The History of Antonio and Mellida. The First Part. , London: for Mathewe Lownes, and Thomas Fisher, , published 1602, →OCLC, Act III, signature F2, verso:

            VVe vvring our ſelues into this vvretched vvorld, / To pule, and vveepe, exclaime, to curſe and raile, / To fret, and ban the fates, to ſtrike the earth / As I doe novv.

   11. (materials science) To slide (two ultraflat surfaces) together such that their faces bond.
       • 1919 April 9, William E. Hoke, Precision Gauge, US Patent 1,472,837 (PDF version), page 1, column 2:

         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; […]

         An adjective use.

       • 1997, Bulletin of the National Research Laboratory of Metrology, Tokyo: National Research Laboratory of Metrology, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 278, column 2:

         The number of optical wringing procedures performed for each gauge block was five, and the number of measurements for each wringing procedure was eleven.

         An adjective use.

       • 2001, Jennifer E. Decker, Nicholas Brown, Recent Developments in Traceable Dimensional Measurements: 20–21 June 2001, Munich, Germany, Bellingham, Wash.: Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, →ISBN, page 25:

         The pack experiment method to evaluate phase correction is valuable in that the differences associated with wringing two different materials and/or surface finishes between the gauge blocks and the platen may be accounted for in the averaging over the pack gauge blocks.

       • 2010, Jonghan Jin, Seung-Woo Kim, “Precision Dimensional Metrology Based on a Femtosecond Pulse Laser”, in Mikhail Grishin, editor, Advances in Solid State Lasers: Development and Applications, Rijeka, Croatia: InTech, →ISBN, page 186:

         The uncertainty of wringing effect is 6.9 nm, which can be determined by wringing the same gauge block on the base plate repeatedly.

2. (intransitive)
   1. To be engaged in clasping and twisting (especially the hands), or exerting pressure.
      • 1580, Thomas Tusser, “Washing”, in Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: , London: Henrie Denham  , →OCLC; republished as W Payne and Sidney J Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. , London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., , 1878, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 173:

        Go wash well, saith Sommer, with sunne I shall drie, / go wring well, saith Winter, with winde so shall I.

      • 1682, John Bunyan, “”, in The Holy War, Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World. , London: Dorman Newman ; and Benjamin Alsop , →OCLC, page 153:

        […] Mr. VVet-eyes vvent vvith hands vvringing together.

      • 1821, Lord Byron, “The Two Foscari, an Historical Tragedy”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, , →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 187:

        jacopo foscari. They will not banish me again?—No—no, / Let them wring on; I am strong yet. / guard. Confess, / And the rack will be spared you.

      • 1915, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “A Book of Revelation”, in Anne of the Island, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, →OCLC, page 316:

        The Haunted Wood was full of the groans of mighty trees wrung in the tempest, and the air throbbed with the thunderous crash of billows on the distant shore.

      • 1946, Elizabeth Metzger Howard, chapter 2, in Before the Sun Goes Down, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, part I (Summer), page 31:

        Jesus Christ! Was my folks refined. My mam she wouldn't think-a lettin' us young'uns call a pee pot a pee pot. A chamber's what she called it. […] And by God! Us young'uns had ter call the pee pot a chamber or git our God damn necks wrang.

   2. To twist the body in or as if in pain; to writhe.
      • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 60:

        No, no, tis all mens office to ſpeake patience / To thoſe that vvring vnder the loade of ſorrovv […]

      • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 386, column 2:

        Bel[arius]. He vvrings at ſome diſtreſſe. / Gui[derius]. VVould I could free't.

      • 1556, John Heywood, “The Spider Takyng Comfort, Entreth in Quarell with the Fliewring”, in The Spider and the Flie. , London: Tho Powell, →OCLC; republished as A[dolphus] W[illiam] Ward, editor, The Spider and the Flie.  (Publications of the Spenser Society, New Series; 6), Manchester: for the Spenser Society, 1894, →OCLC, page 40:

        Oh lord how his feat feete and handes he wrang, / Beſeeching his great god, that day to guide him, / And from his mortall ennemie to deuide him: […]

      • 1630, Ios. Exon. [i.e., Joseph Hall of Exeter], “Upon a Worme”, in R H, editor, Occasionall Meditations, London: for Nath Butter, →OCLC, page 170:

        [H]ovv is it [a worm] vexed vvith the ſcorching beames [of the sun], and vvrings vp and dovvne, in an helpleſſe perplexity; not finding vvhere to ſhrovvd it ſelfe; hovv obnoxious is it to the ſoules of the ayre, to the feet of men, and beaſts?

      • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Phenomena”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker), pages 140–141:

        In hydra-wrestle, giant ‘Millocracy’ so called, a real giant, though as yet a blind one and but half-awake, wrestles and wrings in choking nightmare, ‘like to be strangled in the partridge-nets of Phantasm-Aristocracy,’ as we said, which fancies itself still to be a giant.

   3. (figuratively)
      1. To contend, to struggle; also, to strive, to toil.
         • 1556, John Heywood, “The Introduction to the Matter, Showing howe the Flie Chaunced to Fall into the Spiders Copweb”, in The Spider and the Flie. , London: Tho Powell, →OCLC; republished as A[dolphus] W[illiam] Ward, editor, The Spider and the Flie.  (Publications of the Spenser Society, New Series; 6), Manchester: for the Spenser Society, 1894, →OCLC, page 27:

           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, […]

      2. To experience distress, pain, punishment, etc.
         • c. 1607–1608 (date written), George Chapman, “Byrons Conspiracie”, in The Conspiracie, and Tragedie of Charles Duke of Byron, Marshall of France. , London: G Eld for Thomas Thorppe, and are to be sold  , published 1608, →OCLC, Act I, signature B, recto:

           [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: […]

   4. (mining) Of a lode: to be depleted of ore; to peter or peter out.
   5. (obsolete) To make a way out with difficulty.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• glean

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.

Noun

wring (plural wrings)

1. (also figuratively) A powerful squeezing or twisting action.

   I grasped his hand and gave it a grateful wring.

   • 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. ”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: Will Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act V, scene iiii, page 250:

     The VVring by the hand, and the Banquet is ours.

   • 1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. , London: for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde  , published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, signature A3, verso:

     And hauing clipt them vvith pretence of loue, / Haue I not cruſht them vvith a cruell vvring?

   • 1604 (first performance), George Chapman, Al Fooles: A Comedy, , London: [George Eld] for Thomas Thorpe, published 1605, →OCLC, Act II, signature , verso:

     Yet do I vnderſtand your darkeſt language, / Your treads ath'toe, your ſecret iogges and vvringes: / Your entercourſe of glaunces: euery tittle / Of your cloſe Amorous rites I vnderſtand, / They ſpeake as loud to mee, as if you ſaid, / My deareſt Dariotto, I am thine.

     That is, secret squeezings of the hand.

   • 1612–1626, Joseph Hall, “[Contemplations upon the Principal Passages in the Holy Story. Book IV.] Lazarus Raised.”, in Josiah Pratt, editor, The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D.D. , volume II (Contemplations), London: C Whittingham, ; for Williams and Smith, , published 1808, →OCLC, part II (Contemplations on the New Testament), pages 443–444:

     Martha was ever the more active. She, that was before so busily stirring in her house to entertain Jesus, was now as nimble to go forth of her house to meet him. She, in whose face joy had wont to smile upon so Blessed a guest, now salutes him with the sighs and tears and blubbers and wrings of a disconsolate manner.

   • 1696 November (first performance), [John Vanbrugh], The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger: , : Samuel Briscoe , published 1697, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 45:

     Lo[ry]. […] I have been in a lamentable fright, Sir, ever ſince your Conſcience had the Impudence to intrude into your Company. / Y[oung] Faſ[hion]. Be at peace; it vvill come there no more: My Brother has given it a vvring by the Noſe, and I have kick'd it dovvn Stairs.

   • 1856, [Charlotte Mary Yonge], chapter XVII, in The Daisy Chain; or, Aspirations. A Family Chronicle. , London: John W Parker and Son, , →OCLC, part II, page 520:

     […] James, with one wring of the hand, retreated, while old nurse was nearly hugged to death, declaring all the time that he didn't ought to have come in such a way, terrifying everyone out of their senses!

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Man of the Island”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part III (My Shore Adventure), page 123:

     He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he gave it quite a wring.

   • 1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope Dines—and Tells About It”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 63:

     I tried not to give his poor hand too much of a wring (another of my bad habits); but he took all I gave and even seemed to hang on for a little more.

2. (dated) Followed by down: the product of wringing, such as cider or wine.
   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, “Converging Courses”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., , →OCLC, section III, page 274:

     She had just got off her mare to look at the last wring-down of cider for the year; […]

3. (obsolete) A sharp physical pain, especially in the abdomen; also, mental pain or distress.
   • 1606, Charles Steuens [i.e., Charles Estienne], John Liebault [i.e., Jean Liébault], “Of the Carter, or Horsekeeper”, in Richard Surflet, transl., Maison Rustique, or The Countrey Farme: , London: Arnold Hatfield for Iohn Norton and Iohn Bill, →OCLC, book I, page 195:

     Hens dung ſvvallovved [by a horse] by hap, bringeth frets and vvrings in the bellie: […]

   • 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, “ Chapter II. Being Departed out of Antioch, He was Troubled and Haunted with Strange Signes and Dreames: But afterwards Comforted againe by Sundrie Presages, and the Arrivall of a Most Puissant Armadoe, He Proceedeth in His Intended Voyage.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, , London: Adam Jslip, →OCLC, pages 220–221:

     [T]here vvas brought unto him an horſe named Babylonius, vvhich happening to be ſore vexed vvith a ſuddaine gripe or vvring in his belly, fell dovvne, and vvhiles hee vvas not able to endure the paine, vvallovveth along, and happeneth to beſprent his capariſon and ornaments richly garniſhed vvith gold and precious ſtones. At vvhich ſtrange ſight he tooke great joy, and cryed out, vvith the applauſe of thoſe next about him, That Babylon vvas fallen, and lay along on the ground diſpoyled of all her ornaments.

   • 1637, Robert Monro, “The First Observation”, in Monro his Expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment (Called Mac-Keyes Regiment) Levied in August 1626. ‎, London: William Iones , →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-04, page 3:

     When we have good dayes we slight them, when they are gone, we sinke under the wring of sorrow, for their losse; and want teacheth vs the worth of things more truely: and it is a true saying, Blessings appeare not, till they bee vanished.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English wring, wringe, wrynge (“a press, especially for olives or wine”) , from Old English wringe, from wringan (verb): see further at etymology 1.

Noun

wring (plural wrings)

1. (archaic) A device for compressing or pressing, especially for making cheese, cider from apples, or wine from grapes.

   Synonym: press

   • 1664, John Newburgh, “.] Observations Concerning the Making and Preserving of Cider.”, in J[ohn] E[velyn], Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. , London: Jo Martyn, and Ja Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, , →OCLC, page 43:

     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; […]

   • 1753, Hugh Stafford, “Sect VI. Of Proper Vessels for Receiving the Cyder for Its Fermentation; the Vigilance, Exact Care, and Attention Required in the First Fermentation of Cyder for Making It Sweet, and as Long as It Continues in a Fermenting State.”, in A Treatise on Cyder-making, Founded on Long Practice and Experience; with a Catalogue of Cyder-apples of Character, in Herefordshire and Devonshire. , London: E Cave, , →OCLC, page 48:

     In order to avoid a great deal of trouble, and to perform the work more effectually, by diveſting the nevv made Cyder of vvhat pummice and other impurities remain; after ſtraining it through a hair ſieve, on its coming from the VVring, or Preſs, it is neceſſary to be provided vvith a large open vat, keeve, or clive, vvhich vvill contain a vvhole pounding, or making of Cyder; or as much as can be preſſed in one day: […]

   • 1826, “a Practical Man” , “Part IV. Of Cider, Perry, Mead, and Vinegar.”, in The Vintner’s, Brewer’s, Spirit Merchant’s, and Licensed Victualler’s Guide; , London: W. Whetton, , →OCLC, page 216:

     Take any quantity of cider that is old, strong, harsh, or of an inferior quality, and add to it the same quantity of cider from the wring, or press; rouse it up well, and fix it in a warm place, or in the sun, which is certainly the best for its progress; […]

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XVII, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented , volume I, London: James R Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., , →OCLC, phase the third (The Rally), page 226:

     Tess […] gradually fell asleep again, the words of her informant coming to her along with the smell of cheeses in the adjoining cheese-loft, and the measured dripping of the whey from the wrings downstairs.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXIII, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented , volume II, London: James R Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., , →OCLC, phase the third (The Rally), page 32:

     They tossed and turned on their little beds, and the cheese-wring dripped monotonously downstairs.

Derived terms

• cider-wring
• wring-house

Translations

References

Further reading

• wringing (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “wring”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “wring”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

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Verb

wring

1. inflection of wringen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Middle English

Verb

wring

1. Alternative form of wryngen

Scots

Verb

wring (third-person singular simple present wrings, present participle wringin, simple past wrang, past participle wrong)

1. to wring