torture

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♦ tor|ture /t'ɔːrtʃər/ (tortures torturing tortured)
1 [VERB] be V-ed, V n
If someone is tortured, another person deliberately causes them great pain over a period of time, in order to punish them or to make them reveal information.
French police are convinced that she was tortured and killed...
They never again tortured a prisoner in his presence.
[N-VAR]
Torture is also a noun.
...alleged cases of torture and murder by the security forces...
2 [VERB] V n, V pron-refl
To torture someone means to cause them to suffer mental pain or anxiety.
He would not torture her further by trying to argue with her...
She tortured herself with fantasies of Bob and his new girlfriend.
= torment
3 [N-UNCOUNT] also a N
If you say that something is torture or a torture, you mean that it causes you great mental or physical suffering. (INFORMAL)
Waiting for the result was torture...

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