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agony

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agony

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  agony 
  n  1:  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}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Agony 
  contest;  wrestling;  severe  struggling  with  pain  and  suffering. 
  Anguish  is  the  reflection  on  evil  that  is  already  past,  while 
  agony  is  a  struggle  with  evil  at  the  time  present.  It  is  only 
  used  in  the  New  Testament  by  Luke  (22:44)  to  describe  our  Lord's 
  fearful  struggle  in  Gethsemane. 
 
  The  verb  from  which  the  noun  agony"  is  derived  is  used  to 
  denote  an  earnest  endeavour  or  striving,  as  "Strive  [agonize]  to 
  enter"  (Luke  13:24);  "Then  would  my  servants  fight"  [agonize] 
  (John  18:36).  Comp.  1  Cor.  9:25;  Col.  1:29;  4:12;  1  Tim.  6:12;  2 
  Tim.  4:7,  where  the  words  "striveth,"  "labour,"  "conflict," 
  "fight,"  are  the  renderings  of  the  same  Greek  verb




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