Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Wraw, a. p. 1528Rueful; sad. [Obs.] Chaucer.Wrawl, v. i. p. 1528To cry, as a cat; to waul. [Obs.] Spenser.Wraw'ness, n. p. 1528The state or quality of being wraw; ruefulness; regret. [Obs.] Chaucer.Wreak, v. t. p. 1528To revenge; to avenge. [Obs. or obsolescent.] “Another's wrongs to wreak upon thyself.” Spenser. Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain. Fairfax. 2. To execute in vengeance or passion; to…Wrēak, v. i. p. 1528To reck. [Obs.] Shak. What wreaked I of wintery ages past. Spencer.Wrēak, n. p. 1528Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; infliction; distress. [Obs.] Shak. Spenser.Wrēak'ful, a. p. 1528Revengeful; angry. [Obs.]Wrēak′ful-ly, adv. p. 1528In a wreakful manner; revengefully; angrily; furiously. [Obs.]Wrēak'less, a. p. 1528Unrevengeful; unrevenged; weak. So flies the wreakless shepherd from the wolf. Shak.Wrēath, n. p. 1528Something twisted or curled; as, a wreath of smoke; a wreath of flowers. He of his tortuous train Curled many a wanton wreath. Milton. 2. A garland; a chaplet, especially one given to a victor.…Wrēathe, v. t. p. 1528To cause to revolve or writhe; to twist about; to turn. [Obs. and rare.] And from so heavy sight his head did wreathe. Chapman. 2. To twist; to convolve; to wind one about another; to entwine. “Each…Wrēathe, v. i. p. 1528To be interwoven or entwined; as, a bower of wreathing trees. Dryden.Wreath'less, a. p. 1528Destitute of a wreath.Wrēath'-shĕll, n. p. 1528(Zoöl.) The spiral shell of a mollusk of the genus Turbo; screw-shell.Wreath'y p. 1528— Twisted; curled; spiral. “Wreathy spires.” Browne.Wrĕck, n. p. 1528Destruction; ruin; desolation. “The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.” Addison. 2. Specifically, the destruction or injury of a vessel by being cast on shore, or on rocks, or by being disabled…Wrĕck, n. p. 1528Wreak. [Obs.] Spenser.Wrĕck, v. t. p. 1528To destroy, disable, or seriously damage, as a vessel, by driving against the shore or on rocks, by causing to become unseaworthy, to founder, or the like; to cause to suffer shipwreck. “Supposing…Wrĕck, v. i. p. 1528To suffer wreck or ruin; to be wrecked. [Rare.] Milton.Wrĕck, v. t. p. 1528To wreak. [Obs.]Wrĕck'age, n. p. 1528The act of wrecking. 2. That which has been wrecked.Wrĕck'er, n. p. 1528One who causes a wreck, as by false lights, and the like. 2. One who searches for the wrecks of vessels; as, (a.) One who visits a wreck for the purpose of plunder. (b.) One who is employed in saving…Wrĕck'ful, a. p. 1528Causing wreck; involving ruin. [Obs.]Wrĕck'-más'ter, n. p. 1528A person appointed by law to take charge of goods, &c., thrown on shore after a shipwreck.Wrēn, n. p. 1528(Ornith.) A small insessorial bird of the genus Troglodytes. Wrens feed on insects, &c., and are often very familiar with man.Wrĕnch, v. t. p. 1528To pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence. Wrench his sword from him. Shak. Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woeful agony. Coleridge. 2. To strain; to sprain; to…Wrĕnch, n. p. 1528A violent twist, or a pull with twisting. The injurious effect upon biographic literature of all such wrenches to the truth, is diffused every where. De Quincey. 2. A sprain; an injury by twisting…Wrĕnch'-hăm'mer, n. p. 1528A wrench with the end shaped so as to admit of being used as a hammer.Wrĕst, v. t. p. 1529To turn; to twist; especially, to twist or extort by violence; to pull or force away by violent wringing or twisting. “The secret wrested from me.” Milton. Our country's cause. That drew our swords…Wrĕst, n. p. 1529Violent pulling and twisting; distortion; perversion. Hooker. 2. Active or moving power. [Obs.] Spenser. 3. A key to tune a stringed instrument of music, as a harp. The minstrel . . . wore round his…Wrĕst'er, n. p. 1529One who wrests or perverts.Wrĕs'tle, v. i. p. 1529To contend, as two persons, by grappling together, and each striving to throw the other down. To-morrow, sir, I wrestle for my credit, and he that escapes me without some broken limb shall acquit him…Wrĕs'tle, n. p. 1529A struggle between two to see which will throw the other down; a bout at wrestling; a struggle. Whom, in a wrestle, the giant catching aloft, with a terrible hug broke three of his ribs. Milton.Wrĕs'tle, v. t. p. 1529To wrestle with; to seek to throw down as in wrestling.Wrĕs'tler, n. p. 1529One who wrestles; one who is skillful in wrestling; a professed gymnast.Wretch (rĕtch), n. p. 1529A miserable person; one profoundly unhappy. “The wretch that lies in woe.” Shak. Hoverèd thy spirit o’er thy sorrowing son, Wretch even then, life’s journey just begun? Cooper. 2. One sunk in vice or…Wrĕtch'ed, a. p. 1529Very miserable; sunk in deep affliction or distress, either from want, anxiety, or grief; calamitous; very afflicting. “To what wretched state reserved!” Milton. O cruel Death! to those you are more…Wrĕtch'ed-ly, adv. p. 1529In a wretched manner; miserably; poorly; unhappily; afflictively; meanly; despicably. “Two wars, so wretchedly entered into.” Clarendon.Wrĕtch'ed-ness, n. p. 1529The quality or state of being wretched; extreme misery or unhappiness, either from want or sorrow; as, the wretchedness of poor mendicants. We have, with the feeling, lost the very memory of such…Wrĕtch'ful, a. p. 1529Wretched; miserable. [Obs.] Wycliffe.Wrĕtch'less, a. p. 1529Reckless; hence, disregarded. [Obs.] Your deaf ears should listen Unto the wretchless clamors of the poor. Webster, 1654.Wrĕtch'less-ness, n. p. 1529Recklessness. [Obs.] Bp. Taylor.Wrig, v. i. p. 1529To wriggle. [Obs.]Wrig'gle, v. i. p. 1529To move the body to and fro with short motions; to twist uneasily or quickly about. Both he and his successors would often wriggle in their seats, as long as the cushion lasted. Swift.Wrig'gle, v. t. p. 1529To put into a quick, reciprocating motion; to move by twisting and squirming, like a worm. Covetousness will wriggle itself out at a small hole. Fuller. Wriggling his body to recover His seat, and…Wrig'gle, a. p. 1529Wriggling; frisky; pliant; flexible. [Obs.] Spenser.Wrig'gler, n. p. 1529One who wriggles.Wright, n. p. 1529One whose occupation is some kind of mechanical business; an artificer; a workman; a manufacturer; — now chiefly used in compounds, as in shipwright, wheelwright, and the like.Wring, v. t. p. 1529To twist and compress; to pinch; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; as, to wring clothes in washing. “Earnestly wringing Waverley’s hand.” W. Scott. The priest shall bring it [a dove] to…Wrīng, v. i. p. 1529To writhe; to twist, as with anguish. 'Tis all men's office to speak patience To those that wring under the load of sorrow. Shak.Wring, n. p. 1529Action of anguish; writhing. [Obs. or rare.] Bp. Hall.Wring'-bōlt, n. p. 1529(Ship-building.) A bolt used by shipwrights, to bend and secure the planks against the timbers till they are fastened by bolts, spikes, and tree-nails; — not to be confounded with ring-bolt.Wring'er, n. p. 1529One who, or that which, wrings; hence, an extortioner. 2. Especially, an instrument for forcing water out of any thing, particularly for wringing water from clothes after they have been washed.Wring'ing-wĕt, a. p. 1529So wet as to require wringing, or that water may be wrung out.Wring'-stăve, n. p. 1529(Ship-building.) A strong piece of plank used in applying wring-bolts.Wrinkle, n. p. 1529A small ridge, prominence, or furrow, formed by the shrinking or contraction of any smooth substance; a corrugation; a crease; a slight fold; as, wrinkles in the face or skin; a wrinkle in cloth.…Wrĭnk'le, v. t. p. 1529To contract into furrows and prominences; to corrugate; as, to wrinkle the skin; to wrinkle the brow. “Sport that wrinkled Care derides.” Milton. “Her wrinkled form in black and white arrayed.” Pope.…Wrĭnk'le, v. i. p. 1529To shrink into furrows and ridges.Wrĭnk'ly, a. p. 1529Full of wrinkles; liable to be wrinkled; corrugated.Wrist, n. p. 1529(Anat.) The joint by which the hand is united to the arm, consisting of eight small bones, arranged in two rows; the carpus. He took me by the wrist, and held me hard. Shak. 2. (Mach.) A stud or pin…