0 a form of torture (= extreme physical or mental pain used to make someone give information) in which a person is held facing upwards while water is poured in large quantities over their face. This gives the person the feeling that they are drowning (= unable to breathe and dying):
They extracted confessions using simulated drowning, known as waterboarding.
Waterboarding was prohibited under the new law.
The Defense Department released a revised Army field manual that prohibits the use of waterboarding by military personnel.
He has experienced waterboarding and sensory deprivation.
