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agony
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
agony
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a scream of pain/terror/agony
▪ My screams of terror awoke my parents.
agony aunt
agony column
an agony columnBritish English (= that gives advice to readers about personal problems)
▪ Romantic relationships are much discussed in all the agony columns.
scream in terror/agony etc
▪ He screamed in fear and panic, and banged frantically on the door.
writhe in pain/agony etc
▪ He lay writhing in pain.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
mental
▪ And when things were going against his men he seemed to be suffering mental agonies.
■ NOUN
aunt
▪ While writing her agony aunt column, she remained busy as a reporter, interviewing figures including Margaret Thatcher.
▪ Being agony aunt was tricky and probably quite beyond her.
▪ I am still friends with my ex-husband who takes it on himself to be my personal agony aunt.
▪ In fact they would be just as likely to turn to the agony aunt pages of a magazine.
▪ Then he sat down and typed a letter to every agony aunt he had ever heard of.
▪ He hated playing agony aunt but he couldn't afford to have Hirschfeldt falling to pieces.
▪ Claire Rayner is a novelist, broadcaster and agony aunt.
death
▪ The death agonies of monsters filled the sea with foam.
▪ What we are witnessing is a further confirmation of the judgment that capitalism is in its death agony.
▪ And a few streets away, Donald was probably in his death agony.
▪ Mentally, Mrs Stych felt as if she were writhing in her death agonies.
▪ The scene of Stalin's death agony was grotesque.
■ VERB
pile
▪ He had four chances of piling on the agony for the Londoners but could not find a way past keeper Bob Bolder.
▪ Woosnam piled on the agony with four successive birdies.
▪ It piled on the agony for Glasgow, who had passed up another chance two minutes before the break.
prolong
▪ There was no sense in prolonging the agony.
▪ She played her part to the end, grateful that Ace didn't seem keen on prolonging the agony.
▪ The last thing she wanted was to prolong the agony.
▪ Without prolonging the agony for them both any longer she got up and left the room.
▪ They are now 20 years older and must realise that to remain silent is to prolong the agony for Brian's parents.
▪ You said you'd wait till I came to you of my own free will; let's not prolong the agony any longer.
▪ In reality it can only serve to prolong their agony.
▪ Goodness knows I do not wish to prolong the agony, but I feel some clarity is needed.
scream
▪ Rincewind's arms screamed their agony at him.
▪ Pins pierced his body; he screamed, twitching in agony, then slumped to the ground.
▪ Conroy was restrained by Mr Ali but when police arrived the shopkeeper was screaming in agony.
▪ Only out of sheer mastery of will did I not scream in agony.
▪ He screamed in agony and fell to his knees, cradling his broken nose between his bloodied hands.
▪ Lying there on the floor, cords biting into wrists and ankles, they heard Maureen screaming with terror and agony.
▪ Rain hissed all around it ... and now Pearce was screaming in agony and distress.
suffer
▪ Sister Duffy becomes a patient and suffers agonies over the fate of her love-child, little Peter.
▪ If you have suffered the agony of being laid off you may believe there are no positive benefits to it.
▪ Few suffer the agony of Johanna Young's parents and find that their worst nightmare has become a reality.
▪ Without Dana I was suffering the agonies of hell.
▪ The dead had become offensive and the living were suffering fearful agonies.
▪ Because it was left untreated, he suffered another year of agony.
▪ And when things were going against his men he seemed to be suffering mental agonies.
writhe
▪ Mentally, Mrs Stych felt as if she were writhing in her death agonies.
▪ Within moments the man had me writhing around in agony as he dug his hands into my feet, ankles and calves.
▪ Her hands twisted in the coverlet beside her head, and she writhed in an agony of pleasure.
▪ Police found the pair writhing in agony in the road.
▪ But soon after she was writhing in agony, her muscles racked with pain.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
pile on the pressure/agony
▪ And Walsh piled on the pressure to get promises of advertising business.
▪ He had four chances of piling on the agony for the Londoners but could not find a way past keeper Bob Bolder.
▪ It piled on the agony for Glasgow, who had passed up another chance two minutes before the break.
▪ Move round him, piling on the pressure from different directions.
▪ Pressure Gornei piled on the pressure from the start and by the end of the contest Griffin's face was badly swollen.
▪ Then we really pile on the pressure.
▪ They piled on the pressure to win handsomely by 30 shots.
▪ Woosnam piled on the agony with four successive birdies.
prolong the agony
▪ Goodness knows I do not wish to prolong the agony, but I feel some clarity is needed.
▪ She played her part to the end, grateful that Ace didn't seem keen on prolonging the agony.
▪ The last thing she wanted was to prolong the agony.
▪ There was no sense in prolonging the agony.
▪ They are now 20 years older and must realise that to remain silent is to prolong the agony for Brian's parents.
▪ Without prolonging the agony for them both any longer she got up and left the room.
▪ You said you'd wait till I came to you of my own free will; let's not prolong the agony any longer.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ In the book she describes the agony of watching her child die.
▪ It was agony not knowing where he was.
▪ With renewed fighting for control of the capital, there seems to be no end to the region's agony.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But Greenspun's upscale decor pales as she talks of another time and place full of pain and agony.
▪ In retrospect, dying of the disease itself would seem infinitely preferable to the agonies of death from mercury poisoning.
▪ People covered their mouths in agony.
▪ She's been in agony with a long term back disorder.
▪ The instant the light hit my pupils, the agony began.
▪ The pure hell of making a speech is only equalled by the agony of the audience.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Agony

Agony \Ag"o*ny\, n.; pl. Agonies. [L. agonia, Gr. ?, orig. a contest, fr. ?: cf. F. agonie. See Agon.]

  1. Violent contest or striving.

    The world is convulsed by the agonies of great nations.
    --Macaulay.

  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.
    --Luke xxii. 44.

  3. Paroxysm of joy; keen emotion.

    With cries and agonies of wild delight.
    --Pope.

  4. The last struggle of life; death struggle.

    Syn: Anguish; torment; throe; distress; pangs; suffering.

    Usage: 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!''
    --Dryden.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
agony

late 14c., "mental suffering" (especially that of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane), from Old French agonie, agoine "anguish, terror, death agony" (14c.), and directly from Late Latin agonia, from Greek agonia "a (mental) struggle for victory," originally "a struggle for victory in the games," from agon "assembly for a contest," from agein "to lead" (see act (n.)). Sense of "extreme bodily suffering" first recorded c.1600.

Wiktionary
agony

n. 1 Violent contest or striving. 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. 3 paroxysm of joy; keen emotion. 4 The last struggle of life; death struggle.

WordNet
agony
  1. n. intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain; "an agony of doubt"; "the torments of the damned" [syn: torment, torture]

  2. a state of acute pain [syn: suffering, excruciation]

Wikipedia
Agony (video game)

Agony is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game, released by Psygnosis in 1992 for the Amiga platform.

Agony (TV series)

Agony is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1979 to 1981. Made by London Weekend Television, it stars Maureen Lipman as Jane Lucas who has a successful career as an agony aunt but whose own personal life is a shambles. It was created by Len Richmond and real-life agony aunt Anna Raeburn, both of whom wrote all of the first series. The second and third series were written by Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds.

Agony was the first British sitcom to portray a gay couple as non-camp, witty, intelligent and happy people.

Agony

Agony may refer to:

Agony (The Tossers album)

Agony is the sixth studio album by Chicago Celtic punk band The Tossers. It was released on March 7, 2007 by Victory Records. It is their second release on the label.

Agony (Oppressor album)

Agony is the second studio album by technical death metal band Oppressor. It was released in 1996.

Agony (film)

Agony (, translit. Agoniya; U.S. theatrical/DVD title Rasputin) is a film by Elem Klimov, made c.1973-75 and released in Western and Central Europe in 1982 (USA and Soviet Union 1985), after protracted resistance from Soviet authorities. The film is notable for its rich, sometimes baroque style, its sumptuous recreation of episodes from the final year of Imperial Russia and the psychological portraits of Grigori Rasputin and the Imperial family.

Agony (band)

Agony is a Colombian metal band, formed in Bogotá, Colombia in 1992. The band was founded by Alfonso Pinzón and Andrés Jaramillo, two college friends that shared a common interest in metal. A demo tape of the band's first songs, was quickly spread through Bogotá's metal fans in 1994. The band created a reputation of strong and fierce live shows, which was recorded in the first live album published by a Colombian band, Live All the Time in 1995, featuring two cover songs: Pantera's "Strength Beyond Strength" and Sepultura's "Propaganda".

Agony's first studio album, entitled Millennium, was recorded at Audiovision studios in Bogotá, released in 1996 and later re-released in 2006, with César Botero on vocals, Andrés Jaramillo and Carlos Marín on guitars, Carlos Reyes on bass, and Alfonso Pinzón on drums. Agony opened for several international bands in Colombia, including Testament in 1998. In 1999, the band relocated to Los Angeles, California, to record a new album and widen their fan base worldwide. Shortly after relocation, Reyes left the band and returned to Colombia. After the first show in American ground, at the famous Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, and with Juanes filling in for Reyes on bass, Marín left the band.

Their second album, Reborn, was recorded at Cornerstone Recorders with producer Tom Fletcher, mixed by Rich Renken and released in 2002 on Sum Records. Agony went into hiatus in 2002, after Botero left the band, and reunited in 2007. In 2004, Jaramillo and Pinzón created Dia de los Muertos. Agony performed in the world's largest 'free of charge' rock festival Rock al Parque festival several times, headlining the metal day on its first editions: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2002, the last one with Static-X's Tony Campos on bass; last time the performend on Rock al Parque was in 2007 when they headlined the festival alongside Brujeria.

Agony's third album, The Devil's Breath, with Cello Dias on bass and mixed by Logan Mader, was released online in 2009. To date, their last show was on December 6, 2009, in Bogotá alongside Venom.

Usage examples of "agony".

The cuts and bruises I had received from the jagged sides of the rock shaft were paining me woefully, their soreness enhanced to a stinging or burning acuteness by some pungent quality in the faint draft, and the mere act of rolling over was enough to set my whole frame throbbing with untold agony.

In this state of disgrace and agony, two bishops, Isaiah of Rhodes and Alexander of Diospolis, were dragged through the streets of Constantinople, while their brethren were admonished, by the voice of a crier, to observe this awful lesson, and not to pollute the sanctity of their character.

Saturday, 21st, he was taken with another attack, writhing in great agony, with all the distressing symptoms of arsenical poisoning.

Madame Aubain lay at the foot of the couch, clasping it with her arms and uttering groans of agony.

Now it devolves upon every well-assured and devoted friend, every firm and enkindled believer enraptured by His love, to drink this healing remedy at one draught, so that the agony of bereavement may be somewhat alleviated and the bitter anguish of separation dissipated.

Lorrey, his interest in the mysterious Boke greater than his own agony, listened intently for some sound of a man leaving the other room, but there was no such noise.

But as the watchers choked in agony of suspense Weir bunted the ball, and Reddy Ray flashed across the plate with the winning run.

The Butlerian Jihad was the birth agony of a new science of the subjective.

I have met with nothing to show that there was any earlier chapel with the same subject, and in the 1586 edition of Caccia it is expressly mentioned as one of those that as yet were merely contemplated, though the Agony in the Garden itself is described as completed.

There was no other way to save the world from drowning in a cesspit of horror and agony.

I ditched my scuba set in the water for Angelo to recover, shrugging out of the harness, and when I scrambled over the side, Chubby had laid her on the floorboards and he was leaning over her, folding her in his arms to quieten her struggles and still her moans and sobs of agony.

I ignored this mutinous outburst and sprayed the ugly scarlet weals, coating them with a protective and soothing skin, and then I lifted her into my arms and held her like that while the morphine smoothed out the fearful burning agony of the stings and Chubby ran us back to the island.

At the near end, the curtain abruptly bulged then parted as a minotaur, cloaked in flame, crashed through the blazing wall and howled in piteous agony as it plummeted into the sea below.

Ready to fall at every step, he blundered through the water, which now spread over the whole place, and followed by Dorothy in mute agony, was making for the shed behind which lay his boat, when one of the salmon fishers, who had brought his coble in at the gap, crossed them, and took them up.

Then Crug jumped up from behind the boulder in front of the faltering mammoth trumpeting in agony, and plunged his long, pointed spear straight into her open mouth.