wring out
verb1
To squeeze (wet clothing or cloth), either by twisting with one's hands, or by passing it through a wringer, to remove the water.
2
To force someone to give (something), usually truth, or money.
- I couldn't help it. I had to tell him. He wrung it out of me.
- They wrung an extra $500 out of us for the transfer fees.
3
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To push (an aircraft) to its performance limits; to push the envelope.
- Another difficulty has been that autopilots are designed for ordinary flying. They can't "wring out" a plane, being limited to about 45° in bank and pitch. Aerobatics are an impossibility.1951, Popular Science, March issue, page 46:
- Others listening to the conversation felt the same as I did, especially after having seen a local pilot really "wring" out the airplane at their local air show two weeks earlier.1983, Flying Magazine, June issue, page 94:
1 more example
- I had no conception of what it meant to ”wring out" an airplane until I rode with that magnificent man, and I can't remember his name. After he had scorched the paint off that AT-6, he very quietly said, ”Okay, take her back to the field."2012, Howard Brown, When I Get To Heaven, page 39:
- Derived terms
- wring out one's sock