\Writhe\, v. t. [imp. {Writhed}; p. p. {Writhed}, Obs. or
Poetic {Writhen}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Writhing}.] [OE. writhen,
AS. wr[=i]?an to twist; akin to OHG. r[=i]dan, Icel. r[=i]?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 [turning] 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. [R.]
   The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their
   sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of
   oppression.                                 --Sir W.
                                               Scott.

\Writhe\, v. i.
To twist or contort the body; to be distorted; as, to writhe
with agony. Also used figuratively.
      After every attempt, he felt that he had failed, and
      writhed with shame and vexation.         --Macaulay.