This noun denotes a torturer or jailer, one who examines prisoners through physical pain or administers judicial punishment. Jesus uses it in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:34): the master, enraged by the servant's refusal to forgive, handed him over 'to the torturers' (τοῖς βασανισταῖς) until he should pay all his debt. The term evokes the brutal reality of ancient prison conditions and torture chambers. Jesus' point is chilling: unforgiveness imprisons the unforgiving in a hell of their own making. The βασανισταί symbolize the tormenting consequences of harboring grudges when one has received infinite mercy.