wring neck

Meaning

1. 1verbtransitive

   To kill a bird by twisting its neck, usually for food or as a quick method.

   Grammar: Takes an object: wring a chicken's neck. Often used in the phrase 'wring someone's neck' as a threat or expression of anger.

   Patterns

   • wring something's neck
   • wring someone's neck

   The farmer had to wring the chicken's neck before cooking it.

   She threatened to wring his neck if he broke the vase.

   In some rural areas, people still wring the necks of poultry rather than use a knife.

Common combinations

wring someone's neck

My mother will wring my neck when she sees this mess.

wring a chicken's neck

He learned how to wring a chicken's neck on the farm.

wring the neck of

The chef quickly wrung the neck of the bird.

Synonyms and how they differ

strangle

Strangle means to squeeze someone's throat to stop breathing; wring neck specifically means twisting the neck of a bird or animal.

choke

Choke can mean to block someone's airway, but it does not imply the twisting motion of wring neck.

Word family

wring verb

To twist and squeeze something, especially to remove liquid.

wringer noun

A device with rollers for squeezing water out of clothes.

Commonly confused: wring neck or ring?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “wring neck”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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