Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Cruelty
Cru′el-ty
(-ty̆)
, Noun.
pl.
Cruelties
(-tĭz)
. 1.
The attribute or quality of being cruel; a disposition to give unnecessary pain or suffering to others; inhumanity; barbarity.
Pierced through the heart with your stern
cruelty
. Shakespeare
2.
A cruel and barbarous deed; inhuman treatment; the act of willfully causing unnecessary pain.
Cruelties
worthy of the dungeons of the Inquisition. Macaulay.
Webster 1828 Edition
Cruelty
CRUELTY
,Noun.
1.
Inhumanity; a savage or barbarous disposition or temper, which is gratified in giving unnecessary pain or distress to others; barbarity; applied to persons; as the cruelty of savages; the cruelty and envy of the people.2.
Barbarous deed; any act of a human being which inflicts unnecessary pain; any act intended to torment, vex or afflict, or which actually torments or afflicts, without necessity; wrong; injustice; oppression.With force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. Ezekiel 34.