INFLICT

inflict, bring down, visit, impose

(verb) impose something unpleasant; “The principal visited his rage on the students”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

inflict (third-person singular simple present inflicts, present participle inflicting, simple past and past participle inflicted)

To thrust upon; to impose.

Source: Wiktionary


In*flict", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inflicted; p. pr. & vb. n. Inflicting.] Etym: [L. inflictus, p.p. of infligere to strike on, to inflict; pref. in- in, on + fligere to strike. Cf. Flail.]

Definition: To give, cause, or produce by striking, or as if by striking; to apply forcibly; to lay or impose; to send; to cause to bear, feel, or suffer; as, to inflict blows; to inflict a wound with a dagger; to inflict severe pain by ingratitude; to inflict punishment on an offender; to inflict the penalty of death on a criminal. What heart could wish, what hand inflict, this dire disgrace Drygen. The persecution and the pain That man inflicts on infero-ior kinds. Cowper.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

2 April 2025

COVERT

(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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