torture
UK ['tɔ:.tʃər] US ['tɔ:r.tʃɚ] noun
ADVANCED uncountable
■the act of causing great physical or mental pain in order to persuade someone to do something or to give information, or to be cruel to a person or animal 拷打；拷问；折磨；虐待•Half of the prisoners died after torture and starvation.半数的囚犯死于拷打和饥饿。 •He revealed the secret under torture.在严刑拷打之下，他招供了。 countable or uncountable informal
■a very unpleasant experience 折磨，煎熬•The rush-hour traffic was sheer torture as usual.交通尖峰期像往常一样令人煎熬。
UK ['tɔ:.tʃər] US ['tɔ:r.tʃɚ] verb transitive
ADVANCED
■to cause great physical or mental pain to someone intentionally 拷打；拷问；折磨；虐待•It is claimed that the officers tortured a man to death in 1983 in a city police station.据称，1983年在一所市警察局里，员警将一名男子拷打致死。 ■to cause mental pain 使精神上受到折磨；使痛苦；使苦恼•[R] He tortured himself for years with the thought that he could have stopped the boy from running into the road.他本可以阻止那个男孩跑到马路上去的想法多年来折磨着他。 |