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Contortion vs Writhe - What's the difference?

contortion | writhe |

As nouns the difference between contortion and writhe

is that contortion is the act of contorting, twisting or deforming something, especially oneself while writhe is the number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot.

As a verb writhe is

to twist, to wring (something).

contortion

English

(wikipedia contortion)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act of contorting, twisting or deforming something, especially oneself.
  • A form of acrobatic display which involves the dramatic bending and flexing of the human body.

    • Derived terms

    * contortionist

    writhe

    English

    Verb

  • To twist, to wring (something).
  • To contort (a part of the body).
  • *, II.17:
  • *:Cicero (as I remember) had gotten a custome to wryth his nose, which signifieth a naturall scoffer.
  • To twist or contort the body; to be distorted.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Everton 0-2 Liverpool , passage=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.}} (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (knot theory) The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot

    • Anagrams

    * whiter * wither