AGONY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Agony

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/ˈægəni/ Listen

noun

Agony n. (pl. agonies)

1.

Violent contest or striving. "The world is convulsed by the agonies of great nations."

2.

Pain so extreme as to cause writhing or contortions of the body, similar to those made in the athletic contests in Greece; and hence, extreme pain of mind or body; anguish; paroxysm of grief; specifically, the sufferings of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. "Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly."

3.

Paroxysm of joy; keen emotion. "With cries and agonies of wild delight."

4.

The last struggle of life; death struggle.

Synonyms: Anguish; torment; throe; distress; pangs; suffering. Agony, Anguish, Pang. These words agree in expressing extreme pain of body or mind. Agony denotes acute and permanent pain, usually of the whole system., and often producing contortions. Anguish denotes severe pressure, and, considered as bodily suffering, is more commonly local (as anguish of a wound), thus differing from agony. A pang is a paroxysm of excruciating pain. It is severe and transient. The agonies or pangs of remorse; the anguish of a wounded conscience. "Oh, sharp convulsive pangs of agonizing pride!"

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Etymology of 'Agony'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Agony" Quotes from Famous Books

... and that the emotion which created it was fresh in him. This had an extraordinary influence on the listener, who felt that the reader had been present at the scenes he described, and that he still felt their bliss or agony. ...

— Public Speaking • Irvah Lester Winter

... agony and lamentation rose from the starving Isle of Saints to the gates of Heaven, and fell back unheard; the sky was hard as brass above and the earth was barren beneath, and men and women died in despair, their shrivelled lips ...

— Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race • Maud Isabel Ebbutt

... shock of Roy's imprisonment and the agony of suspense that finally stretched her nerve to breaking-point; so that the sudden onslaught of pneumonia had slain her in the space of a week. And Roy, knowing her too well, had guessed the truth, in spite of his father's gallant attempt ...

— Far to Seek - A Romance of England and India • Maud Diver

... a boy. It will soothe my agony immensely and give me courage to appear in a low-necked coat and curl on my forehead, for I'm not used to such elegancies and I find them no end ...

— Rose in Bloom - A Sequel to "Eight Cousins" • Louisa May Alcott

... and seriously injure my temper, by the overpowering pressure I laid upon them to keep them quiet when you were by? Could I not, by the sense of coming ill through all my quivering frame, presage your advent as exactly as the barometer heralds the approaching storm? Those three months of agony are little atoned for by this late vengeance; but ...

— The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.) • Various

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