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Writhe vs Billow - What's the difference?

writhe | billow |

As verbs the difference between writhe and billow

is that writhe is to twist, to wring (something) while billow is to surge or roll in billows.

As nouns the difference between writhe and billow

is that writhe is (knot theory) the number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot while billow is a large wave, swell, surge, or undulating mass of something, such as water, smoke, fabric or sound.

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

    billow

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A large wave, swell, surge, or undulating mass of something, such as water, smoke, fabric or sound
  • * Cowper
  • whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll
  • * 18?? , :
  • And the brooklet has found the billow / Though they flowed so far apart.
  • * 1922 , :
  • Have the swirling sands engulfed them, on a noon of storm when the desert rose like the sea, and rolled its tawny billows on the walled gardens of the green and fragrant lands?

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To surge or roll in billows
  • * 1920 , , The Understanding Heart , Chapter II:
  • During the preceding afternoon a heavy North Pacific fog had blown in … Scudding eastward from the ocean, it had crept up and over the redwood-studded crests of the Coast Range mountains,
  • To swell out or bulge
  • References