writhe

From Middle English writhen, from Old English wrīþan, from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną “to weave, twist, turn” (compare Old High German rīdan “to wind, turn”, Old Norse ríða “to wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist, writhe”). Compare Lithuanian riēsti (“to unbend, wind, roll”).

• IPA^(key): /ɹaɪð/

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• Rhymes: -aɪð

writhe (third-person singular simple present writhes, present participle writhing, simple past writhed or (archaic) wrothe, past participle writhed or (archaic) writhen)

1. (transitive) To twist, to wring (something).
2. (transitive) To contort (a part of the body).
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

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

3. (intransitive) To twist or contort the body; 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.

4. (transitive) To extort.

writhe (plural writhes)

1. (rare) A contortion.
2. (knot theory) The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot

• whiter, wither, wither-

writhe

1. Alternative form of writhen