Writhe /(?)/

imp. Writhed; p. p. Writhed; p. pr. & vb. n. Writhing

1. To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to distort; to wring.

   Then Satan first knew pain, And writhed him to and fro.

   Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown.

   His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands.

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.

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.

1. 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.