writhe

verb

ˈrīt͟h 

writhed; writhing

transitive verb

1

a

: to twist into coils or folds

b

: to twist so as to distort : wrench

c

: to twist (the body or a bodily part) in pain

2

: intertwine

intransitive verb

1

: to move or proceed with twists and turns

writhed to the music

2

: to twist from or as if from pain or struggling

3

: to suffer keenly

writhe noun

Did you know?

Writhe wound its way to us from the Old English verb wrīthan, meaning “to twist,” and that ancestral meaning lives on in the word’s current uses, most of which have to do with twists of one kind or another. Among the oldest of these uses is the meaning “to twist into coils or folds,” but in modern use writhing is more often about the physical contortions of one suffering from debilitating pain or attempting to remove oneself from a tight grasp (as, say, a snake from a hawk’s talons). The word is also not infrequently applied to the twisting bodies of dancers. The closest relation of writhe in modern English lacks any of the painful connotations often present in writhe: wreath comes from Old English writha, which shares an ancestor with wrīthan.

Synonyms

• enlace
• entwine
• implicate [archaic]
• interlace
• intertwine
• intertwist
• interweave
• inweave
• lace
• ply
• twist
• weave
• wreathe

Examples of writhe in a Sentence

She lay on the floor, writhing in pain.

a nest of writhing snakes

Recent Examples on the Web

In the film, Depp’s Ellen violently writhes during Orlok’s perverse subconscious visits to her, and her filmmaker was determined to use as little CGI as possible for these demanding sequences. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 13 Dec. 2024

Young Mohammed, peppered with shrapnel, writhing in agony in a makeshift hospital. —Ian Pannell, ABC News, 8 Dec. 2024

As Tinashe writhed, jumped and danced around the room, her fans did the same, albeit on the dance floor. —Britt Julious, Chicago Tribune, 14 Nov. 2024

Then, Rocky’s girlfriend Adrian, who has just entered the arena to see Rocky at his worst, writhing in pain on the canvas. —Brendan Leonard, Outside Online, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English wrīthan; akin to Old Norse rītha to twist

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

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Kids Definition

writhe

verb

ˈrīt͟h 

writhed; writhing

: to twist and turn this way and that

writhe in pain