Writhe

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Writhe, v. t. [OE. writhen, AS. wrīan to twist; akin to OHG. rīdan, Icel. rīa, Sw. vrida, Dan. vride. Cf. Wreathe, Wrest, Wroth.].

•  To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to distort; to wring.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "Then Satan first knew pain,
  And writhed him to and fro."  [1913 Webster]

  "Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown."  [1913 Webster]

  "His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands."  [1913 Webster]
•  To wrest; to distort; to pervert.  [1913 Webster]

  "The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are writhed."  [1913 Webster]
•  To extort; to wring; to wrest.  [1913 Webster]

  "The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of oppression."  [1913 Webster]

Writhe, v. i. 

 To twist or contort the body; to be distorted; as, to writhe with agony. Also used figuratively.  [1913 Webster]
"After every attempt, he felt that he had failed, and writhed with shame and vexation."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Writhe, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. twist or roll oneself about in or as if in acute pain.
2 intr. suffer severe mental discomfort or embarrassment (writhed with shame; writhed at the thought of it).
3 tr. twist (one's body etc.) about.
--n. an act of writhing.

Etymology

OE writhan, rel. to WREATHE

THESAURUS

Writhe

ache, agonize, ail, anguish, bend, blanch, bleed, blench, buckle, contort, crook, crumple, distort, feel pain, feel the pangs, fidget, flinch, flip out, flutter, freak out on, get high on, glow, gnarl, go hard with, go pitapat, grimace, have a misery, have the fidgets, have the shakes, heave, hurt, jerk, knot, palpitate, pant, pound, quake, quaver, quiver, recoil, screw, shake, shiver, shoot, shrink, smart, spring, squiggle, squirm, suffer, suffer anguish, swell, swell with emotion, thrash, thrill, thrill to, throb, tingle, tingle with excitement, toss, toss and turn, tremble, tumble, turn, turn awry, turn on to, twinge, twist, twist and turn, twitch, twitter, wag, waggle, warp, wiggle, wince, worm, wrench, wrest, wriggle, wring

ROGET THESAURUS

Writhe

Distortion

VB distort, contort, twist, warp, wrest, writhe, make faces, deform, misshape.

Agitation

VB be agitated, shake, tremble, tremble like an aspen leaf, quiver, quaver, quake, shiver, twitter, twire, writhe, toss, shuffle, tumble, stagger, bob, reel, sway, wag, waggle, wriggle, wriggle like an eel, dance, stumble, shamble, flounder, totter, flounce, flop, curvet, prance, cavort, squirm, throb, pulsate, beat, palpitate, go pitapat, flutter, flitter, flicker, bicker, bustle, ferment, effervesce, foam, boil, boil over, bubble up, simmer, toss about, jump about, jump like a parched pea, shake like an aspen leaf, shake to its center, shake to its foundations, be the sport of the winds and waves, reel to and fro like a drunken man, move from post to pillar and from pillar to post, drive from post to pillar and from pillar to post, keep between hawk and buzzard, agitate, shake, convulse, toss, tumble, bandy, wield, brandish, flap, flourish, whisk, jerk, hitch, jolt, jog, joggle, jostle, buffet, hustle, disturb, stir, shake up, churn, jounce, wallop, whip, vellicate.

Physical Pain

VB feel pain, experience pain, suffer pain, undergo pain, suffer, ache, smart, bleed, tingle, shoot, twinge, twitch, lancinate, writhe, wince, make a wry face, sit on thorns, sit on pins and needles, give pain, inflict pain, lacerate, pain, hurt, chafe, sting, bite, gnaw, gripe, pinch, tweak, grate, gall, fret, prick, pierce, wring, convulse, torment, torture, rack, agonize, crucify, cruciate, excruciate, break on the wheel, put to the rack, flog, grate on the ear.