Definition of "agony" []

• The suffering of intense physical or mental pain. (noun)
• The struggle that precedes death. (noun)
• A sudden or intense emotion: an agony of doubt. (noun)
• A violent, intense struggle. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It rises naturally to a suffering man's lips as expressive of agony, though not exactly framed for _his_ individual _agony_."
• "Watching collision-injured wildlife scream and writhe in agony is very disturbing to everyone, particularly the nonshooting, nonhunting public."
• "But pain, passing a little blood preceeding a few large kidney stones and being in agony is not a bad punishment for his evilness …. for now."