Agonise
to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in .
to put forth great effort of any kind.
to distress with extreme pain; torture.
Historical Examples
Othello must not agonise for a cloak, but ‘the little orphan Alice Fell’ has nothing else to agonise for.
Oxford Lectures on Poetry Andrew Cecil Bradley
If we agonise that we and our descendants may rise, life is worth living.
Life of Charles Darwin G. T. (George Thomas) Bettany
His exhortation and command rather is, “Strive”—“knock”—agonise to “enter in!”
Memories of Bethany John Ross Macduff
No one can make me believe that it is to be ascribed to this scandalous Government, under which we agonise.
The Last Hope Henry Seton Merriman
verb
to suffer or cause to suffer agony
(intransitive) to make a desperate effort; struggle; strive
v.
1580s, “to torture,” from Middle French agoniser or directly from Medieval Latin agonizare, from Greek agonizesthai “to contend in the struggle” (see agony). Intransitive sense of “to suffer physical pain” is recorded from 1660s. That of “to worry intensely” is from 1853. Related: Agonized; agonizing.
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- Agonising
to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in . to put forth great effort of any kind. to distress with extreme pain; torture. Contemporary Examples The sign says that it produced “extreme emaciation and a slow, agonising death.” My Visit To Hell Christopher Buckley January 29, 2009 Historical Examples To the castaways every hour of […]
- Agonist
a person engaged in a contest, conflict, struggle, etc., especially the protagonist in a literary work. a person who is torn by inner conflict. Physiology. a contracting muscle whose action is opposed by another muscle. Compare (def 3). Pharmacology. a chemical substance capable of activating a receptor to induce a full or partial pharmacological response. […]
- Agonistic
combative; striving to overcome in argument. straining for effect: agonistic humor. of or relating to ancient Greek athletic contests. Ethology. pertaining to the range of activities associated with aggressive encounters between members of the same species, including threat, attack, appeasement, or retreat. Historical Examples Moreover, most of the burrows were only a few feet apart […]
- Agonized
involving or accompanied by or severe struggle: an agonized effort. to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in . to put forth great effort of any kind. to distress with extreme pain; torture. Contemporary Examples As President Barack Obama plays an agonized Hamlet over Afghanistan, the ice is cracking beneath his feet on Capitol Hill. […]
- Agonizing
accompanied by, filled with, or resulting in or distress: We spent an agonizing hour waiting to hear if the accident had been serious or not. to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in . to put forth great effort of any kind. to distress with extreme pain; torture. Contemporary Examples And so a writer of […]