Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The suffering of intense physical or mental pain.
- n. The struggle that precedes death.
- n. A sudden or intense emotion: an agony of doubt.
- n. A violent, intense struggle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Violent contest or striving.
- n. 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.
- n. Paroxysm of joy; keen emotion.
- n. The last struggle of life; death struggle.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Violent contest or striving.
- n. 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.
- n. Paroxysm of joy; keen emotion.
- n. The last struggle of life; death struggle.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A violent contest or struggle.
- n. The struggle, frequently unconscious, that often precedes natural death: in this sense often used in the plural: as, he is in the agonies of death.
- n. Extreme, and generally prolonged, bodily or mental pain; intense suffering; hence, intense mental excitement of any kind: as, the agony of suspense or uncertainty.
- n. In a special sense, the sufferings of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
- n. a state of acute pain
Etymologies
Examples
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It rises naturally to a suffering man's lips as expressive of agony, though not exactly framed for _his_ individual _agony_.
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Watching collision-injured wildlife scream and writhe in agony is very disturbing to everyone, particularly the nonshooting, nonhunting public.
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But pain, passing a little blood preceeding a few large kidney stones and being in agony is not a bad punishment for his evilness …. for now.
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Persons in sorrow are too apt to be cross and peevish with those about them, and to lay it grievously to heart, if they but seem to neglect them; but Christ in his agony is as meek as ever, and carries it as patiently toward his followers as toward his Father, and is not apt to take things ill.
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He had been walking by, but stopped at my desk after seeing the expression of agony on my face.
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I tried to push through it and was left in agony for a week.
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Exercise leaves me in agony for days and so it pretty much rules it out, even walking and swimming leave me in pain.
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I put my hand before my eyes, and cried out in agony — Oh! take him away!
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I wept bitterly; and clasping my hands in agony, I exclaimed, "Oh! stars and clouds, and winds, ye are all about to mock me: if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness."
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When I'm in agony my skin is blotchy, my nose runs, and I suspect my wrinkles are even worse.
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