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Added 9 October 2026

wring

/ɹɪŋ/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wring at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry.
Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
I didn’t have a towel so I just wrung my hair dry.
To squeeze water (from an item of wet clothing) by passing through a wringer.

noun

A powerful squeezing or twisting action.
I grasped his hand and gave it a grateful wring.
Followed by down: the product of wringing, such as cider or wine.
A sharp physical pain, especially in the abdomen; also, mental pain or distress.

noun

A device for compressing or pressing, especially for making cheese, cider from apples, or wine from grapes.

Origin

From Middle English wring, wringe, wringen, wryng, wrynge, wryngen, wryngyn, from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ- (“to squeeze, wring”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wring (“to wring”), Saterland Frisian wringe (“to wring”), Dutch wringen (“to wring; to wrest; to writhe”), German ringen (“to wrestle; to struggle; to wring”), wringen (“to wring”), Luxembourgish réngen (“to grapple, wrestle”); also Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast, nimbly, rapidly”), Lithuanian rangýti (“to roll up; to curl, twist, wave”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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