waterboarding

noun

wa·​ter·​board·​ing ˈwȯ-tər-ˌbȯr-diŋ 

ˈwä-

: an interrogation technique usually regarded as a form of torture in which water is forced into a detainee's mouth and nose so as to induce the sensation of drowning

Examples of waterboarding in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For example, the C.I.A. had forced Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused of being the architect of the hijackings, to talk to interrogators through waterboarding, rectal abuse, shackling while nude and other brutality. —Charlie Savage, New York Times, 16 May 2024

Windows have been added to the barn, where, according to former detainees cited in European court rulings, prisoners were kept shackled in the dark and subjected to sleep deprivation, beatings and waterboarding. —Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024

The suspects kidnapped a man at gunpoint after mistaking him for someone who owed them money, prosecutors said Three men have been charged with kidnapping, waterboarding and torturing a Florida man, who then called in a bomb threat in order to be rescued by the police. —Michael Lee Simpson, Peoplemag, 18 Oct. 2023

Florida men charged with kidnapping, waterboarding and torturing man in case of mistaken identity First responders found the house engulfed in flames, police said. —Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

2004, in the meaning defined above