Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#WRITHECategory:English terms derived from Middle English#WRITHE writhen, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#WRITHECategory:English terms derived from Old English#WRITHE wrīþan, from Proto-West GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#WRITHECategory:English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#WRITHE *wrīþan, from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WRITHECategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WRITHE *wrīþaną (“to weave, twist, turn”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#WRITHE *wreyt- (“to twist, writhe”). Cognate with Middle Dutch writen (“to turn, twist”), dialectal German reiden (“to turn, twist, lace”), Danish vride (“to twist”), Swedish vrida (“to turn, twist, wind”), French rider (“to wrinkle, furrow, ruffle”, (< Germanic)). Compare also Lithuanian riēsti (“to unbend, wind, roll”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: rīth, IPA^(key): /ɹaɪð/Category:English 1-syllable words#WRITHECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WRITHE

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#WRITHE
• Rhymes: -aɪðCategory:Rhymes:English/aɪð#WRITHECategory:Rhymes:English/aɪð/1 syllable#WRITHE

Verb

writhe (third-person singular simple present writhes, present participle writhing, simple past writhed or wrothe, past participle writhed or wrothe or writhen)Category:English lemmas#WRITHECategory:English verbs#WRITHECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#WRITHECategory:Pages with entries#WRITHECategory:Pages with 2 entries#WRITHE

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WRITHE) To twist, wring (something).
2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WRITHE) To contort (a part of the body).
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     Cicero (as I remember) had gotten a custome to wryth his nose, which signifieth a naturall scoffer.

     Category:English terms with quotations#WRITHE

   • 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza IV, pages 50–51:

     She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good! / She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! / They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years, / Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, / Cold, on the stroke of midnight, / The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

     Category:English terms with quotations#WRITHE

3. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#WRITHE) To twist bodily; to contort one's self; to be distorted.
   • 2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0-2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:

     The game was engulfed in controversy when Rodwell appeared to win the ball cleanly in a midfield challenge with Suarez. The tackle drew an angry response from Liverpool's players- Lucas in particular as Suarez writhed in agony - but it was an obvious injustice when the England Under-21 midfielder was shown the red card.

     Category:English terms with quotations#WRITHE

4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WRITHE) To extort.

Noun

writhe (plural writhes)Category:English lemmas#WRITHECategory:English nouns#WRITHECategory:English countable nouns#WRITHECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#WRITHECategory:Pages with entries#WRITHECategory:Pages with 2 entries#WRITHE

1. (rareCategory:English terms with rare senses#WRITHE) A contortion.
2. (knot theory) The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot

Anagrams

• Wither, whiter, wither, wither-

Verb

writheCategory:Middle English alternative forms#WRITHECategory:Middle English entries with incorrect language header#WRITHECategory:Pages with entries#WRITHECategory:Pages with 2 entries#WRITHE

1. alternative form of writhen