Chinese water torture

noun

: 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

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

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Rhymes for Chinese water torture

• rapporteur