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wring

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist tightly so that liquid is forced out.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ring
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹɪŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.

  2. transitivealso figuratively

    Often followed by from or out: to extract (a liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting pressure on it.

  3. transitivealso figuratively

    To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.

  4. transitive

    To squeeze water (from an item of wet clothing) by passing through a wringer.

  5. Twist and press out of shape

  6. transitive

    To clasp and twist (hands) together due to distress, sorrow, etc.

noun

  1. A twisting squeeze

    “Gave the wet cloth a wring.”

  2. also figuratively

    A powerful squeezing or twisting action.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.

Used this way, wring is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use wring

  • “Gave the wet cloth a wring.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

wring moneywring tearsanguish wring

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • wring fromverbCompound term

    Get or cause to become in a difficult or laborious manner.

  • wring outverbCompound term

    Extract (liquid) by squeezing or pressing.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.