thumbscrewnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈθʌm.skruː/us/ˈθʌm.skruː/also screwsa device used especially in the past to torture people (= cause them great pain) by crushing their thumbs
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Punishing by causing pain
- birch
- cane
- cat-o'-nine-tails
- corporal punishment
- flagellate
- flay
- horsewhip
- kneecap
- lash
- lynch
- lynch law
- mortification
- mortification of the flesh idiom
- rack
- stone
- tar
- treadmill
- walloping
- whip
- whipping
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