WRITHING

wiggly, wriggling, wriggly, writhing

(adjective) moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion; “wiggly worms”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

writhing (comparative more writhing, superlative most writhing)

Bended in twisting struggle.

Verb

writhing

present participle of writhe

Noun

writhing (plural writhings)

A twisting struggle.

Source: Wiktionary


WRITHE

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

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world. Each year Brazil exports more than 44 million bags of coffee. Vietnam follows at exporting over 27 million bags each year.

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