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wring

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wring something from something

 and wring something out of something

to remove liquid from something by squeezing or twisting. She wrung the water from the cloth and wiped up the rest of the spill. Alice wrung the water out of the washcloth.

See also: wring

wring something out

to squeeze or twist something dry of liquid. He wrung the rag out and wiped up more of the spilled milk. Liz wrung out the rag and wiped up more of the spilled milk.

See also: out, wring

wring something out of someone

to pressure someone into telling something. The police will wring the truth out of her. After a lot of questioning, they wrung the information out of Fred.

See also: of, out, wring

wring your hands

to worry about something but not do anything about it It's too bad your grades have dropped, but if you just wring your hands over it, nothing will improve.

See also: hand, wring

wring something out of somebody

to persuade someone to give you what you want She is a very original comedian and can wring laughs out of any audience. The trick in fundraising is to wring money out of people who don't want to give it away.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of wring something out (to twist cloth that is wet to get the water out of it)

See also: of, out, wring

I'll wring your neck!

  (informal)

something that you say when you are very angry with someone I'll wring his neck if he does it again. I could wring his neck, I feel so annoyed with him.

See also: wring

wring your hands

to show that you are very sad or anxious about a situation but do nothing to improve it It's not enough for us to stand by and wring our hands - we've got to take action.

See also: hand, wring

wring from

v.

1. To extract some liquid by twisting and compressing something: I wrung the water from the cloth and laid it out to dry.

2. To obtain or extract some information by applying force or pressure to someone: My mother finally wrung the truth from us, and we told her everything.

See also: wring

wring out

v.

1. To twist, squeeze, or compress something, especially so as to extract liquid: I wrung out the wet towel. Wring the clothes out before you hang them on the line.

2. To extract some liquid by twisting or compressing something: Wring out the suds from the dishcloth when you're done washing the dishes. She twisted her hair to wring the rain out of it.

3. To obtain or extract some information by applying force or pressure to someone; extort something from someone: We can wring out the story from him if we question him long enough. The prosecutor wrung the truth out of the reluctant witness.

See also: out, wring