wring (redirected from wringing hands)

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.

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 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: out

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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.

See also: hand

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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: out

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