Ag"o*nize, v. t. To cause to suffer agony; to subject to extreme pain; to torture.
He agonized his mother by his behavior.
Thackeray.
Ag"o*ni`zing*ly (&?;), adv. With extreme anguish or desperate struggles.
Ag"o*no*thete` (&?;), n. [Gr. &?;; &?; + &?; to set. appoint.] [Antiq.] An officer who presided over the great public games in Greece.
Ag`o*no*thet"ic (&?;), a. [Gr. &?;.] Pertaining to the office of an agonothete.
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.