Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TORT'URE, n. [Fr. torture; It. and Sp. tortura; from L. tortus, torqueo, to twist, W. torçi; probably from the root of turn. See Tour.]

1. Extreme pain; anguish of body or mind; pang; agony; torment. Ghastly spasm or racking torture. Milton.
2. Severe pain inflicted judicially, either as a punishment for a crime, or for the pupose of extorting a confession from an accused person. Torture may be and is inflicted in a variety of ways, as by water or by fire, or by the boot or thumb-kin. But the most usual mode is by the rack or wheel. Paley. Cyc.