Writhe (?), v. t. [imp.Writhed (?); p. p.Writhed, Obs. or PoeticWrithen (�); p. pr. & vb. n.Writhing.] [OE. writhen, AS. wrī�an to twist; akin to OHG. rīdan, Icel. rī�a, Sw. vrida, Dan. vride. Cf. Wreathe, Wrest, Wroth.]
1. To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to distort; to wring. “With writhing of a pin.” Chaucer.
Then Satan first knew pain,
And writhed him to and fro. Milton.
Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown. Dryden.
His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands. Tennyson.
2. To wrest; to distort; to pervert.
The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are writhed. Hooker.
3. To extort; to wring; to wrest.
The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of oppression. Sir W. Scott.