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💧 To torture 💧 A torture method 🪑 A torture board
waterboard

waterboard

1 9.9
A way of torturing someone by pouring water over a cloth on the face to simulate drowning
  • noun
  • /ˈwɔːtərbɔːrd/
  • Offensive
: simulación de ahogamiento
  • "There is also little evidence that the waterboard is effective in gaining information."

Who has proposed worse than waterboarding while praising how Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un handled protest and terrorism?

Examples

  • Human rights groups have condemned the use of the waterboard as a method of torture for extracting information.

  • We understand that, as to the detainee here, this written approval has been given for each of the techniques we discuss, except the waterboard.

    Blog text (28)

  • "On March 17th, the waterboard technique began to evolve."

    The Report (2019)

  • They believe the waterboard is working here to create compliance.

    The Report (2019)

  • Khalid Shaykh Muhammad received 183 applications of the waterboard in March 2003.

    Blog text (25)

  • It's supposedly okay to torture (e.g., waterboard) someone if that's what you have to do to find out where that bomb is.

    Blog text (33)

  • So they hold off for a bit, get approval, waterboard, chase Soufan's partner away, at the end of July (working with my new theory that the law enforcement personnel referred to in the Vaughn index is the second FBI guy).

    Blog text (28)

  • Who has proposed worse than waterboarding while praising how Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un handled protest and terrorism?

    GQ

  • In recent debates, many officials have highlighted the dangers of using the waterboard in interrogations.

  • The controversial practice of using the waterboard has sparked widespread outrage among activists.

Synonyms

waterboarding
vswaterboard
  • Offensive
32 9.9

A cruel way to make someone feel like they are drowning by pouring water over a cloth on their face

is the broader description naming the method used to simulate drowning in torture

Surface Forms

waterboard singular
waterboards plural

Morphology

waterboard = water + board (semi-transparent) = water + board

The word is a compound of 'water' and 'board', but the specific torture-method meaning is specialized and not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Waterboard also names the torture method and comes from water and board, since the practice uses water poured over a person's face while they lie on a board to make them feel like they are drowning. So waterboard can mean the act of causing that drowning feeling.