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wring
wring something from something
and wring something out of somethingto 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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.