Writhe

(rĭth), v. t. [imp. & p. p. WRITHED (WRITHEN, obs. or poet.); p. pr. & vb. n. WRITHING.] [A-S. wridhan, to wreathe, writhe. See WREATHE.]

1Sense 1. To twist with violence; to distort; to wring.

His features seem writhen as by a palsy-stroke. Spenser.

A writhen staff his step unstable guides. Fairfax.

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, Lay naked on the wolf-skin. Tennyson.

2Sense 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.

3Sense 3. To extort; to wring; to wrest. [Rare.]

The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of oppression. W. Scott.

(rīth), v. i. To twist; to be distorted; as, to writhe with agony.

After every attempt, he felt that he had failed, and writhed with shame and vexation. Macaulay.