To wring out a cloth or towel to remove liquid.
濡れたタオルをよく絞ってから干してください。
Wring the wet towel out well before hanging it to dry.
彼は雑巾を絞ると手が冷たくなったと言った。
He said his hands got cold when he wrung out the rag.
To press or squeeze (e.g., fruit) to extract juice; to milk an animal.
レモンを搾ってサラダにかけた。
I squeezed a lemon and poured it over the salad.
朝、酪農場で牛からミルクを搾った。
In the morning I milked the cows at the dairy farm.
To rack one's brains (think hard) or to strain/force one's voice — to exert mental or vocal effort.
いいアイデアを出すために皆で頭を絞った。
We all racked our brains to come up with a good idea.
彼女は声を絞って助けを求めたが、誰にも聞こえなかった。
She strained her voice calling for help, but no one heard her.
To extort or exploit someone — to squeeze money or advantage out of them unfairly.
その業者は下請けから不当な料金を絞り取っていたことが発覚した。
It was revealed that the contractor had been extorting unfair fees from subcontractors.
借金のある彼から無理に金を絞ろうとするのはやめなさい。
Stop trying to squeeze money out of him when he’s in debt.
To scold severely; to give someone a harsh telling-off (often used in the passive: to be chewed out).
ミスをした部下は上司に絞られて、反省文を書かされた。
The subordinate who made a mistake was sternly scolded by his boss and made to write a reflection.
学生たちは遅刻したことで先生に絞られた。
The students were harshly reprimanded by the teacher for being late.
To drill or train someone rigorously, pushing them to improve.
新人選手はコーチに絞られて毎朝走り込みをしている。
The rookie players are being put through tough training by the coach and run every morning.
試験に受かるように親に絞られて参考書を読み続けた。
Pushed by his parents to pass the exam, he kept studying from reference books.
To narrow down options or focus — to whittle down possibilities.
応募者の数が多いので面接候補を5人に絞った。
There were many applicants, so we narrowed the interview candidates down to five.
調査によって原因をある程度絞ることができた。
We were able to narrow down the cause to some extent through the investigation.
To gather up or tighten (e.g., drawstring, curtain) by pulling — to cinch or draw together.
巾着の口を絞って中身がこぼれないようにした。
I pulled the drawstring to close the pouch so nothing would spill out.
カーテンを軽く絞って隙間をふさいだ。
I drew the curtains together slightly to close the gap.
To stop down a camera lens (reduce aperture size) to decrease light and increase depth of field.
背景もはっきり写したかったので、絞りを絞って撮影した。
I stopped down the aperture to keep the background in focus when shooting.
暗い場所では絞るとシャッタースピードが遅くなるので注意が必要だ。
In low light, stopping down makes the shutter speed slower, so you need to be careful.
To turn down (e.g., the radio); to reduce volume or output.
隣の人に迷惑だからラジオの音を少し絞ってくれない？
Could you turn the radio down a little? It's bothering the neighbor.
騒がしいので音量を絞って会議を続けた。
It was noisy, so we lowered the volume and continued the meeting.
To bend or draw (as in drawing a bow) — to pull taut (archery context).
弓を絞って矢を放った音が静寂を破った。
The sound of the bow being drawn and the arrow released broke the silence.
試合前に選手は弓を絞る動作を確認した。
Before the match, the player checked his bow-drawing motion.
In sumo: to hold down or immobilize an opponent — to constrict or pin them.
土俵際で力士が相手を絞りにかかり、勝負が決まった。
At the edge of the ring, the rikishi tried to pin his opponent and the match was decided.
絞ってからの寄り切りで勝利を得た。
After constricting the opponent, he secured victory by forcing him out.
In the game of Go: to 'squeeze' — restrict or pressure the opponent's territory or influence (usually written in kana: しぼる).
相手の大石に圧力をかけるために、しぼる手を打った。
I played a squeezing move to put pressure on the opponent's large group.
その手は勢力をしぼる狙いがあった。
That move aimed to squeeze (reduce) the opponent's influence.