SINCE 1828
Chinese water torture
nounDefinition of Chinese water torture
: a form of torture in which a person is restrained and subjected to repetitive drips of water on the forehead
I heard beeping for two days … It was driving me crazy like Chinese water torture. — Carol Kallberg, Daily Record (Wooster, Ohio), 14 Oct. 2012
—often used figuratively Better to execute layoffs quickly and decisively, experts say … The alternate—the drip-drip-drip of repeated downsizings—is a Chinese water torture that kills morale and productivity.— Daniel McGinn, Newsweek, 25 June 2001
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