Wrung is the past tense of wring, which means to squeeze and twist something tightly to force liquid out of it. When you wring out a wet towel after swimming, you twist it hard to get the water out. Your grandmother might wring excess water from freshly washed clothes before hanging them to dry.

The word captures that specific twisting, squeezing motion. You can't just press down on a soaked sponge and say you wrung it. You have to twist it, rotating your hands in opposite directions while squeezing. Picture wringing a wet dishrag over the sink, watching the water spiral down the drain.

People also use wrung figuratively. After an exhausting day of hard physical work or intense studying, you might feel wrung out, like someone twisted all the energy from your body. When something makes you extremely sad, it can wring your heart. If you've ever seen someone wring their hands together anxiously, that nervous twisting motion borrows its name from wringing wet cloth. The phrase wrung dry means completely emptied or exhausted, with nothing left to give.