Definition of "torture" []

• Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion. (noun)
• An instrument or a method for inflicting such pain. (noun)
• Excruciating physical or mental pain; agony: the torture of waiting in suspense. (noun)
• Something causing severe pain or anguish. (noun)
• To subject (a person or an animal) to torture. (verb-transitive)

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.

• "VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Bush declares: \'We do not torture\' '; yahooBuzzArticleSummary =' Bush supported an effort spearheaded by Vice President Dick Cheney to block or modify a proposed Senate-passed ban on torture ..."
• "After many nights of torture, this jacket, at my urgent and repeated request, was finally adjusted in such manner that, had it been so adjusted at first, I need not have suffered any _torture_ at all."
• "* Generals say crucial reports did not mention torture* "Ludicrous" to say most detainees abused - general By David LjunggrenOTTAWA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Two former Canadian military commanders on Wednesday denied accusations they had ignored warnings that Afghan authorities might torture and abuse detainees handed over to them."