torture

英 ['t??t??] 美['t?rt??]

CET4TEM4IELTSGRE考研CET6中頻詞常用詞匯

復數:?tortures;第三人稱單數:?tortures;過去式:?tortured;過去分詞:?tortured;現在分詞:?torturing;

記憶方法:偷竊被拷打

torture 拷問，拷打，折磨，痛苦

來自拉丁語 tortus,扭曲的，扭成一團的，詞源同 turn,torment.-ure,名詞后綴。引詞義拷問，折磨。

torture: torture: see torment
torture (n.): early 15c., "contortion, twisting, distortion; a disorder characterized by contortion," from Old French torture "infliction of great pain; great pain, agony" (12c.), and directly from Late Latin tortura "a twisting, writhing," in Medieval Latin "pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of punishment or persuasion," from stem of Latin torquere "to twist, turn, wind, wring, distort" (see torque (n.)). The meaning "infliction of severe bodily pain as a means of punishment or persuasion" in English is from 1550s. The theory behind judicial torture was that a guilty person could be made to confess, but an innocent one could not, by this means. Macaulay writes that it was last inflicted in England in May 1640.
torture (v.): 1580s, from torture (n.). Related: Tortured; torturing.

1. The friction of the sheets against his skin was torture.: 被單摩擦著他的皮膚，簡直像是酷刑。

2. 2,000 prisoners died as a result of torture and maltreatment.: 2,000名犯人死于拷打和虐待。

3. There are consistent reports of electrical torture being practised on inmates.: 一直有報道稱犯人被施以電刑。

4. I believed that in civilized countries, torture had ended long ago.: 我原以為在文明國家，嚴刑拷打早已銷聲匿跡。

5. The confessions were obtained by what amounts to torture.: 這些供狀是用近乎逼供的方式得來的。