WRITHE

writhe, wrestle, wriggle, worm, squirm, twist

(verb) to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling); “The prisoner writhed in discomfort”; “The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt’s embrace”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

writhe (third-person singular simple present writhes, present participle writhing, simple past (archaic) wrothe or writhed, past participle (archaic) writhen or writhed)

(transitive) To twist, to wring (something).

(transitive) To contort (a part of the body).

(intransitive) To twist or contort the body; to be distorted.

(transitive) To extort.

Noun

writhe (plural writhes)

(rare) A contortion.

(knot theory) The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot

Anagrams

• Wither, whiter, wither, wither-

Source: Wiktionary


Writhe, v. t. [imp. Writhed; p. p. Writhed, Obs. or Poetic Writhen (; p. pr. & vb. n. Writhing.] Etym: [OE. writhen, AS. wri to twist; akin to OHG. ridan, Icel. ri, Sw. vrida, Dan. vride. Cf. Wreathe, Wrest, Wroth.]

1. To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to distort; to wring. "With writhing [turning] of a pin." Chaucer. Then Satan first knew pain, And writhed him to and fro. Milton. Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown. Dryden. His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands. Tennyson.

2. To wrest; to distort; to pervert. The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are writhed. Hooker.

3. To extort; to wring; to wrest. [R.] The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of oppression. Sir W. Scott.

Writhe, v. i.

Definition: To twist or contort the body; to be distorted; as, to writhe with agony. Also used figuratively. After every attempt, he felt that he had failed, and writhed with shame and vexation. Macaulay.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

23 December 2024

QUANDONG

(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit


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