put (one) through the wringer
To subject one to some ordeal, difficulty, trial, or punishment; to force one to undergo an unpleasant experience. My mother's recent bout with cancer has really put us through the wringer this year.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
put someone through the wringer
Fig. to give someone a difficult time; to interrogate someone thoroughly. (Alludes to putting something through an old-fashioned clothes wringer.) The lawyer really put the witness through the wringer! The teacher put the students through the wringer.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
put someone through the wringer (or the mangle)
subject someone to a very stressful experience, especially a severe interrogation. informal 1984 Louise Erdrich Love Medicine I saw that he had gone through the wringer. He was red-eyed, gaunt, and he was drunk.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
put (someone) through the wringer
Slang To subject to a severe trial or ordeal.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.