writhed


Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

writhe

 (rīth)
v. writhed, writh·ing, writhes
v.intr.
1. To make twisting bodily movements, as in pain or struggle.
2. To move with a twisting or contorted motion: A snake writhed out of the bushes.
3. To suffer emotional or physical distress, as from embarrassment or anguish: "She writhed at the bare idea that he might pay court to some girl" (W. Somerset Maugham).
v.tr.
To cause to twist or squirm; contort: "His lips ... were now writhed into unholy contortions" (Stephen Crane).
n.
The act or an instance of writhing: "'If I may umbly make the remark,' said Uriah Heep with a writhe" (Charles Dickens).
[Middle English writhen, from Old English wrīthan; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]
writh′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.writhed - twisted (especially as in pain or struggle); "his mad contorted smile"; "writhed lips"; "my writhen features"- Walter scott
contorted, writhen
crooked - having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned; "crooked country roads"; "crooked teeth"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
It now writhed in convulsions of pain, and was a forcible type, in its little frame, of the moral agony which Hester Prynne had borne throughout the day.
View in context
He writhed under the jokes, practical and otherwise, which were perpetually made at his expense, and yet never ceased, it seemed wilfully, to expose himself to them.
View in context
They quivered and trembled and writhed as though they were still in torment, a supposition to which the unending scream gave a horrible credence.
View in context
A DEATH Row inmate writhed in agony yesterday during a botched lethal injection execution which took 40minutes to kill him.
Horror of botched execution on Death Row
Clayton Lockett, 38, writhed, clenched his teeth and appeared to struggle against restraints holding him to a gurney before Oklahoma prison officials halted the execution.
Botched execution fuels debate
Summary: Thousands writhed together in one techni-coloured mob during celebrations of the colourful Indian festival Holi.
Powder, paint and Holi power

Dictionary browser ?
Full browser ?