Writhe vs Wry - What's the difference?
writhe | wry |
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= (knot theory) The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot
Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
* 1837 , , The Pickwick Papers , ch. 17:
* 1913 , , The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park , ch. 11:
Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.
* 1871 , , The Haunted Baronet , ch. 6:
Twisted, bent, crooked.
Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
* 1820 , , The Abbot , ch. 34:
* 1876 , , The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor , vol. IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel,
(obsolete) To turn (away); to swerve or deviate.
* 1535 , , Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation , ch. 18:
* , Cymbeline , act 5, sc. 1:
(obsolete) To divert; to cause to turn away.
To twist or contort (the body, face etc.).
(obsolete) To cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.
In lang=en terms the difference between writhe and wry
is that writhe is to twist or contort the body; to be distorted while wry is to twist or contort (the body, face etc).As verbs the difference between writhe and wry
is that writhe is to twist, to wring (something) while wry is (obsolete|intransitive) to turn (away); to swerve or deviate or wry can be (obsolete) to cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.As a noun writhe
is (knot theory) the number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot.As an adjective wry is
turned away, contorted (of the face or body).writhe
English
Verb
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)Anagrams
* whiter * witherwry
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) wrien, from (etyl) . Compare awry, wriggle.Adjective
(en-adj)- '"Why, you snivelling, wry -faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.
- “Humph! Had to,” said Pep with a wry grimace.
- "[T]he master says a wry word now and then; and so ye let your spirits go down, don't ye see, and all sorts o' fancies comes into your head."
- Catherine hath made a wry stitch in her broidery, when she was thinking of something else than her work.
p. 155 (Google preview):
- . . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.
Derived terms
* wryly * awryVerb
- God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth them at the heart, and of wickedness they wry away.
- You married ones,
- If each of you should take this course, how many
- Must murder wives much better than themselves
- For wrying but a little!