waterboarding

noun

wa·ter·board·ing | \ ˈwȯ-tər-ˌbȯr-diŋ

, ˈwä- \

Definition of waterboarding

: an interrogation technique usually regarded as a form of torture in which water is forced into a detainee's mouth and nose so as to induce the sensation of drowning

Examples of waterboarding in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Elvis' death and the moth's waterboarding both took place on Aug. 16, 1977. — Star Tribune, "The day Elvis died, that was just part of the story in Baltimore," 16 Jan. 2021 Life magazine ran a waterboarding illustration on its cover. — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, "The Glenn Highway is named for a war criminal who torturing captives during the Philippine-American War," 19 Oct. 2020 But when the Presidente refused further questions, Glenn ordered another waterboarding. — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, "The Glenn Highway is named for a war criminal who torturing captives during the Philippine-American War," 19 Oct. 2020 The spliced clips from the movie showed two separate waterboarding sessions carried out by Mitchell and his future business partner, Dr. Bruce Jessen, who will testify later this week. — Jerry Dunleavy, Washington Examiner, "CIA interrogator says Amazon film The Report got waterboarding of accused terrorist wrong," 29 Jan. 2020 Haspel also helped carry out a 2005 order that the agency destroy videos of the waterboarding. — Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, "6 things to know about Gina Haspel," 13 Mar. 2018 For those wondering, yes, that's waterboarding but with maple syrup. — Samantha Highfill, EW.com, "Riverdale recap: The students take down Mr. Honey," 7 May 2020 Asking me to do any more than take sips of of my feelings would have been akin to emotional waterboarding — inescapable, cruel, and punishing. — Wendy Dean, STAT, "Suicides of two health care workers hint at the Covid-19 mental health crisis to come," 30 Apr. 2020 The two psychologists who had set up the interrogation program that used waterboarding and violence and was authorized by the Bush administration had intended for interrogators to learn by trying out the techniques on each other. — Carol Rosenberg, New York Times, "An Interrogation Program Worked Out on the Fly," 26 Feb. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'waterboarding.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.