the act of causing great physical or mental pain in order to persuade someone to do something or to give information, or to be cruel to a person or animal

Half of the prisoners died after torture and starvation. 半数的囚犯死于拷打和饥饿。

He revealed the secret under torture. 在严刑拷打之下他吐露了秘密。

a very unpleasant experience

The rush-hour traffic was sheer torture as usual. 交通高峰期像往常一样简直就是一种煎熬。

to cause great physical or mental pain to someone intentionally

It is claimed that the officers tortured a man to death in a city police station. 据称在一所市警察局里警察将一名男子拷打致死。

to cause mental pain

He tortured himself for years with the thought that he could have stopped the boy from running into the road. 他本可以阻止那个男孩跑到马路上去的想法多年来一直折磨着他。