The Collaborative International Dictionary
Inflict \In*flict"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inflicted; p. pr. & vb. n. Inflicting.] [L. inflictus, p. p. of infligere to strike on, to inflict; pref. in- in, on + fligere to strike. Cf. Flail.] 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 all inferior kinds.
--Cowper.
Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of inflict lang= en)
Usage examples of "inflicting".
Now Dariat thought about it, the servitors would be an excellent way of keeping everyone under observation, circumventing the disruption he’d been inflicting on the neural strata’s subroutines.
It was as though the possessed shared a communal unease at inflicting the necessary suffering in full view of each other and the low-orbit sensor satellites.
You should also consider, the possessing souls are either unaware of the damage they’re inflicting on their hosts, or are unable to cure it.
Every innovation we bring has the potential for inflicting vast change upon them.
This forced cessation of hostilities will have to be achieved without inflicting additional casualties or causing too much mental dis tress among the population.
They were inflicting serious damage to his body and causing him more pain than he had ever thought it possible to feel.
A tongue-lashing from O'Mara would be insignificant compared to the punishment you are inflicting on yourself.
They themselves are physically and temperamentally incapable of inflicting pain or injury on another intelligent life-form, and the treatment was not available on Groalter because the surgical procedures of the Small, while precise enough, are too crude for the fine work of removing large numbers of deeply embedded insects.
Of necessity the work at this stage is slow and carefully performed because we are detaching the membrane from the underlying brain structures and must avoid inflicting further damage.
It had been a female attacking him in defense of an imagined threat to infants sleeping in another part of its dwelling, and even though its body had displayed the discoloration and muscle wastage of disease and malnutrition, it had come close to inflicting serious injury on him.
It could strike out in any direction and even if all of them charged, it was capable of inflicting considerable damage.
The invaders had barred their own way with the blast of beam-fire from the aircraft, but they seemed lazily indifferent about inflicting casualties on their own forces.
The saint too hastily raised his foot, and Satan seized the moment of inflicting this chastisement on his vanity.
Their punishment created a great sensation owing to the fact that the consular office imposed upon a father the duty of inflicting punishment on his own children.
Horatius fought them on Algidus, inflicting great slaughter, and drove them not only from Algidus but also out of Corbio and Ortona.