WRITHE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Writhe

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verb

Writhe v. t. (past writhed; past part. writhed, obs. or poetic writhen; pres. part. writhing)

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

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."

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."

Writhe v. i. 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."

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Etymology of 'Writhe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Writhe" Quotes from Famous Books

... into the middle of the circle, and begin to leap and twist about and stamp his feet, and then come down with a crash on the ground—and there represent the movements of a fish which has been thrown out of the water upon the dry land; and he would writhe about this way and that, and even bring his heels up to his neck; and then, when he sprang to his feet and began to shout, the earth would simply tremble beneath him! Alexyei Sergyeitch was extremely fond of choral songs and dances, as I have already said; ...

— A Reckless Character - And Other Stories • Ivan Turgenev

... one of those sombre evenings when the sighing of the wind recalls the moaning of a dying man. A fitful storm was brewing, and between the plashes of rain on the windows there was the silence of death. All nature suffers in such moments, the trees writhe in pain and hide their heads; the birds of the fields cower under the bushes; the streets of cities are deserted. I was suffering from my wound. But a short time before I had a mistress and a friend. The mistress had deceived me and the friend ...

— Child of a Century, Complete • Alfred de Musset

... tyranny. It seemed, too, as if she was incapable of feeling anything poignantly, deadened now by these quick calamities. But that she, that Tenshillingland's daughter, should come to be an object of common charity, touched some hidden nerve of pride, and made her writhe in agony. ...

— The House with the Green Shutters • George Douglas Brown

... first emotion, which he attributed to an unforeseen advantage he himself had gained over the Hungarian; but seeing him, in the sequel, bite his lip, roll his eyes, groan, writhe his body, ejaculate incoherent curses, and neglect his game, the Huguenot concluded that he was mad, and being seized with terror and dismay, got up and scampered off, without ...

— The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete • Tobias Smollett

... set the fashion for all the courtiers, to the profit and prosperity of merchants and craftsmen. Earls might secretly writhe at the prospect of entertaining their sovereign with suitable magnificence, but the tradesmen and purveyors rubbed their hands. When a company of Flemings was employed for four years on the carving of the beams and ...

— Days of the Discoverers • L. Lamprey

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