wring

verb \ ˈriŋ \

|Updated on: 8 Jun 2018

Examples: wring in a Sentence

Definition of wring

wrung play \ˈrəŋ\; wringing play \ˈriŋ-iŋ\

transitive verb

1 : to squeeze or twist especially so as to make dry or to extract moisture or liquid

wring a towel dry

2 : to extract or obtain by or as if by twisting and compressing

wring water from a towel

wring a confession from the suspect

3 a : to twist so as to strain or sprain into a distorted shape

I could wring your neck

b : to twist together (clasped hands) as a sign of anguish

4 : to affect painfully as if by wringing : torment

a tragedy that wrings the heart

intransitive verb

: squirm, writhe

—

wring

noun

See wring defined for English-language learners

See wring defined for kids

Examples of wring in a Sentence

I wrung the towel and hung it up to dry.
I wrung my hair and wrapped it in a towel.

Recent Examples of wring from the Web

Hand-wringing among progressives over the supposed rise of fascism in the U.S. was, to my mind, one of the least attractive responses to the election of Donald Trump.

— barton swaim, WSJ, "The Right Way to Defend Democracy," 9 Mar. 2018
Fir Tree, which managed $8 billion at year end, specializes in wringing profits from distress.

— ryan dezember, WSJ, "Behind a Hedge Fund’s Billion-Dollar Bet On Busted Oil Companies," 20 May 2018
The tiny, but stratospherically wealthy, emirate is trying to forge an economy for a post-oil world and needs to wring more profits from its petroleum industry to finance the makeover.

— Bloomberg.com, "A Mideast Energy Giant Seizes New Energy Future," 10 May 2018
There’s simply too much leverage to be gained from wringing more incentives out of the next rung for Amazon to immediately announce a winner.

— elizabeth weise, USA TODAY, "Amazon second headquarters: some expect another round of finalists before winning bid," 30 Apr. 2018
Others have proposed wringing more utility out of the existing subway network.

— miranda katz, WIRED, "The Dreamers of the L Train Shutdown," 7 Apr. 2018
Labor Day is oh-so bittersweet — everyone tries to wring the last bits of summer fun out of the weekend while getting in gear for the season ahead.

— marcy blum, ELLE Decor, "Expert Advice To Make You The Perfect Weekend Guest," 4 Sep. 2015
Before the deal, the Obama administration squeezed traders and refiners to not buy Iranian oil, wringing a series of 20 percent cuts in purchases until more than 1 million barrels a day of Iran's exports had been taken off world markets.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Trump pulls United States out of Iran nuclear deal, calling pact 'an embarrassment'," 8 May 2018
One of the biggest problems with business meetings is that all the risk has been wrung out of them.

— priya parker, WSJ, "We’ve Got to Stop Meeting Like This: Tips for Better Workplace Gatherings," 4 May 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of wring

Middle English, from Old English wringan; akin to Old High German ringan to struggle, Lithuanian rengtis to bend down, Old English wyrgan to strangle — more at worry

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year