writhe

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Never to cease to writhe, and try to rest,

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Definitions (14)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. intransitive verb To twist, as in pain, struggle, or embarrassment.
  2. intransitive verb To move with a twisting or contorted motion.
  3. intransitive verb To suffer acutely.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • As Dylan's penis hardened under my fingers I watched his body begin to writhe, his own narrow pale hips moving in response to mine, working the muscles that lined his clenching hot rectum as he sought to satisfy his own desires as well as mine. —  XXXX
  • Now she watched the numbers writhe, the blurred print of Brad's W-2 shimmering so that she could hardly pick out the middle two digits of his Social Security number. —  F ;SF - vol 089 issue 02 - August 1995
  • "Now go and never come here again The black gave another writhe, as if smarting from the pain of the blow he had received, and ended by snatching boomerang and club from his waistband, uttering a fiercely defiant yell as he clattered them together, leaped the fence and darted off straight across the paddock, shouting as he rushed on toward the horses, and sending them in panic to the end of the enclosure The scoundrel!" —  The Dingo Boys The Squatters of Wallaby Range
  • Somehow it all made me writhe, agitated me so that I could hardly keep my seat Presently she came hurrying round, bringing me some food When can I see you, girl?" —  The Trail of '98 A Northland Romance
  • It increased in violence until it was as if an animal was within and was kicking and tumbling furiously to be free This spectacle of gradual strangulation made the youth writhe, and once as his friend rolled his eyes, he saw something in them that made him sink wailing to the ground. —  The Red Badge of Courage
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

twitch ·  heave ·  groan ·  thrash ·  wriggle ·  shiver ·  contort ·  lurch ·  whimper ·  twist

Used in the same contextWord Family

writhe:   writhed ·  writhing
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English writhen, from Old English wrīthan; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English writhen, wrythen (preterit wroth, wrooth, wræth, plural writhen, past participle writhen (with short i), wrethen), from Anglo-Saxon wrīthan (preterit wrāth, past participle writhen), twist, wind about, = Old High German rīdan, Middle High German rīden, German dial. wrideln, twist together, = Icelandic rītha = Swedish vrida = Danish vride, wring, twist, turn, wrest. Hence ult. wreath, wrest, wrist.
  2. from writhe, v.
 

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/rajð/
by American Heritage

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