GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Writhe , v. t. [imp. Writhed ; p. p. Writhed, Obs. or Poetic Writhen ; p. pr. & vb. n. Writhing.] [OE. writhen, AS. wrīan to twist; akin to OHG. rīdan, Icel. rīa, Sw. vrida, Dan. vride. Cf. Wreathe, Wrest, Wroth.]
   1913 Webster
   To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to distort; to wring. “With writhing [turning] of a pin.” 
   Chaucer.
   
   1913 Webster
   Then Satan first knew pain,
   And writhed him to and fro.
   Milton.
   
   1913 Webster
   Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown.
   Dryden.
   
   1913 Webster
   His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands.
   Tennyson.
   
   1913 Webster
   To wrest; to distort; to pervert.
   1913 Webster
   The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are writhed.
   Hooker.
   
   1913 Webster
   To extort; to wring; to wrest. [R.]
   1913 Webster
   The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of oppression.
   Sir W. Scott.
   
   1913 Webster
   
         
       

2.       
   Writhe, v. i. To twist or contort the body; to be distorted; as, to writhe with agony. Also used figuratively.
   1913 Webster
   After every attempt, he felt that he had failed, and writhed with shame and vexation.
   Macaulay.
   
   1913 Webster