wretchedhead 
wretcbedheadt, »• [< ME. wrecchedhede ; < 
ivntehed + -head.'\ Misery; wretchedness. 
Roh. of Gloucester, p. 102. 
wretchedly (rech'ed-li). adi\ [< ME. wrecched- 
liche; < wretched + -ly-.] In a wretched or 
worthless manner; miserably; contemptibly; 
poorly. 
Thei lyven fulle tcrecched lictie ; and the! eten but ones 
to the day, and that but lytillt?, nouther in Courtea ne in 
other places. MandevUle, Travels, p. 251. 
Nor yet by kindly death she perished ; 
But wretchedly before her fatal day. 
Surrey, ^neid, Iv. 930. 
The defenses of Plymouth were wretchedly insufficient. 
Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., xiv. 
He touches on the wretchedly careless performances of 
early comedy. A^ner. Jour. Philot., X. 268. 
wretchedness (rech'ed-nes), n. [< ME. wrec- 
chednesse; < wretched + -ness.'i 1. The state or 
condition of a suffering wretch; a wretched or 
distressful state of being; gi-eat misery or af- 
fliction. 
Is wretchednegg deprived that benefit. 
To end itself by death ? Shak., Lear, iv. 6. 61. 
2. Wretched character or quality ; distressing, 
reprehensible, or despicable nature; aggra- 
vated or aggravating badness of any kind. 
Thy kynde is of so lowe a wrechednesse 
That what love is thou canst not seen ne gesse. 
Ctutucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 601. 
The gray uretchedncsa of the afternoon was a fit prelude 
to Barra. Harpers Man., L.\X\ II. 782. 
3t. That which is wretched or distressingly bad ; 
wretched material, conduct, or the like ; any- 
thing contemptible or despicable; wretched 
stuff. 
Yet hath this bird by twenty thousand fold 
Levere in a forest that is rude and cold 
Goon ete womies and swich wrecchednessc. 
C/utuccr, Manciple's Tale, 1. 6V. 
= Sj^n. L A^fflict ion, Qric/, Sorrow, etc. See affliction. 
wretchfult (rech'fiil). a. [< icretch + -fid. Cf. 
wreakful and wrackful.'\ Wretched. Wyclif. 
wretchlesst, wretchlesslyt, etc. Misspellings 
of relchlfss, retchlesgli/, etc., variants of recklcan, 
recklessly, ete. 
The product of these Is a wretchUa spirit : that is, an 
aptness to any anworthiness. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 728. 
Cursed are al they that do the fxjrd's busines wretch- 
tetly. Tract, an. 1655 (Strype's Cat. of Originals, Xo. it). 
The Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or 
Into wretchUssness of most unclean living, no less perilous 
than desperation. 
Thirty-nine Articles (Amer. Revision, 1801X xvii. 
Wretchockt, wretchcockt (rech'ok, rech'kok), 
«. [Appar. < wretch + -<irk or cock^, v., used 
as dim.] A stunted or abortive cock; the 
smallest of a brood of domestic fowls; hence, 
any puny or imperfect creature. 
The famous imp yet grew a wretchock {in some editions, 
wretch-cock], . . . though for seven years together he was 
carefully carried at his mother's back. 
B. Joimm, Gipsies Metamorphosed. 
wrethelf, '■• A Middle English fonn of wrciilhe. 
•wrethe-t, ''• A Middle English form of wrath. 
■wrethe'4, c. An obsolete form of writhe. 
wreyet, v- t. An old spelling of wruy. Chau- 
cer. 
■wrick (rik), r. [< JIE. wrieken, < MD. wrirkrn, 
D. wrikkeii = LCt. wrikkcii, move to and fro, = 
Sw. rrickd = Dan. irikkc, move, turn, wriggle, 
sprain. Cf. wriy, wriijyle, wry^.'] To twist; 
turn. [Prov. Eng.] 
wrick (rik), n. [< wrick, r.] A sprain. 
wriet, f. t. A variant of tcry-. 
■wrlgt (rig), f. i. and t. [Early mod. E. wryggc ; 
a var. of wrick. Cf. wrii/nle.] To wriggle. 
The bore his tayle irry^ges, 
His rumpe al.so he frygges 
Agaynst the hye benche ! 
Skftton, Elynour Rumrayng, 1. 177. 
Worms . . . 
Do wrigye and wrest their parts divorc'd by knife. 
Dr. U. More, Psychathanasia, II. ii. 37. 
■wriggle (rig'l), r. ; pret. and pp. wrigylcd. ppr. 
wriygling. [Formerly also wriyle, rigijte ; < D. 
wriggelcn = LG. wriggebi ; freq. of the verb 
represented by wrig, wrick.'i I. intrnns. 1. To 
move sinuously; twist to and fro; writhe; 
squirm; wiggle. 
Cumberland acknowledged her merit, after his fashion, 
by biting his lips and tcrij'jlinff in his chair whenever her 
name was mentioned. .Macaulau. -Mme. D'Arblay. 
2. To move along sinuously, or by twisting and 
turning the body, as a snake, an eel, or a worm; 
hence, 6guratively, to proceed by shifts and 
turns; make way by sinuous or crooke<l means: 
as, to wriggle out of a ililTiculfy. 
6991 
We may fear he'l wrigle in 
Twixt him and us, the prime man in her favour. 
Brome, Queens Exchange, i. 
It is through these gaps that the people barely vmggle. 
W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 15. 
II. trails. To cause to wriggle; twist and 
shake slightly and quickly; effect by wrig- 
gling. 
Their tayls with croompled knot twisting swashlye they 
wriyled. Staniliurst, .^nek\, ii. 
When you wait behind a chair at meals, keep constantly 
wriggliny the back of the chair, that the person behind 
whom you stAud may know you are ready to attend him. 
Suift, Advice to Servants (Footman). 
The Pi-Utes . . . u-riggled their way out through the 
passages in the rocks. The Century, XLl. 049. 
■wriggle (rig'l), n. [< wriggle, r.] 1. The mo- 
tion of one who or that which wriggles ; a quick 
twisting motion or contortion like that of a 
worm or an eel. 
They [dapper men) have always a peculiar spring in their 
arms, a urxjjgle in their bodies, and a trip in their gait. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 85. 
He was a person of sinuous, snake-like presence, and 
seemed capable of shedding his complete attire by means 
of one deft wriggle. Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 2-23. 
2. Something showing the effect of wriggling 
or sinuous action ; a sinuosity or contortion ; 
a wrinkle. [Kare.] 
Minor folds and icriggles [in rocks] are frecjuent. 
Quart. Jour. Geol. Snc, XLIV. 11. 
'wriggler (rig'l^r), «. [< wriggle + -«fl.] 1. 
One who or that which wriggles ; specifically, 
one of the active larvae, as of mosquitos, seen 
in stagnant water. Also wiggUr. — 2. A person 
who practises wriggling methods ; one who pro- 
ceeds by sinuosity or trickery. 
For Providence, . . . 
In spite of all the wrigglers Into place, 
Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace. 
Couper, Tirocinium, 1. 432. 
'wriggling (rig'ling), 11. [V^erbal n. of wriggle, 
I'.] Same as wriggle. 
'Wright (rit), II. [< ME. wrighte, wrihte, wrigte, 
wruhte, wurhte, write, < AS. wyrhta (= OS. wurh- 
tio = OHG. wurhto), a worker, wright, < AS. 
wyrht, gewijrht (= OS. wurht = OHG. wuriiht, 
wuraht, a work, deed), < iryrcaii, etc., work: see 
work.} One whose occupation is some kind of 
mechanical business; an artificer; a workman, 
especially a constructive workman. As a sepa- 
rate word it originally signified, as it still does in Scotland 
and some parts of England, a carpenter or any worker in 
wood. It is common in composition, as in cariirright, 
w&Uiwright, whee\trright, miWwright, shipwright, etc., and, 
in a somewhat figurative sense, playuyright. 
He was a wel goo<l wrighte, a carpentere. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to V. T., 1. 614. 
All the laid-on steel 
Can hew no further than may serve to give the timber 
th' end 
F'ore-puriKJs'd by the skilful wright. 
Chairman, Iliad, xv. 37i>. 
Wrightia (ri'ti-a), «. [NL. (R. Brown, 1811), 
named after William Wright, a physician and 
botanist in Jamaica.] A genus of plants, of the 
order .tpocynacese, tribe Echitidea; and subtriT)0 
ParsoiisiesE. It is characterized by having a corolla- 
tube usually short and bearing on the throat five or more 
scales and an exserted cone of anthers, and by seeds 
furrdsheil with a tuft of hairs at the base and with broad 
convolute cotyledons. There are about 12 species, natives 
of tropical Asia, Africa, and Australia. They are 8lirHl)s 
or small trees, with long loose branches, opposite featlier- 
veined leaves, and re<l, white, or yellowish salver-sliaped 
flowers, commonly in tenninal cymes. W. antldystentcrica, 
a small tree, the source of conessi bark (see bark-), In In- 
dia a leading remedy for dysentery, is now classe<l under 
Hidarrhena. For W. tinctoria, see palay, 1, and ivory- 
trcc. 
'Wrightin (ri'tin). ii. Same as conessiiie. 
•wrightryt (rit'ri), ». [ME., < wright + -ry (see 
-<:>'y)-} Tho business of a wright. 
Now assay wille I 
How I can of wrightry. 
Tuwneley Mysteries, p. 26. 
wrimplet (rim'pl), r. and n. Same as riiiijilc. 
I holde a forme within a urimpled skin. 
G. ii'hetstone, Remembrance of Gascoigne. 
wrincht (rinch), II. and r. An obsolete vari- 
ant of wrench. 
These devout Prelates for these many years have not 
ceas't in their Pulpits wrinching and spraining the text. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng.. ii. 
WrineH (nn), v. t. Same as wry-. 
■Wrine'-^ (lin), «. [Appar. a particular use of 
CiHfl, a ditch, trench, sjielled in imitation of 
wrinkle.} A wrinkle. IlaHiwiil. [Prov. Eng.] 
■wring (ring), r. ; ])i'et. and pp. wrniig (formerly 
sotiietifnes wringrd: wrriiig. the origiiuil ])ret- 
erit, is now only i)roviiu-ial). ]>iir. wringing. 
[< ME. wriiigeii (pret. wrung, wrong, irrongc, pi. 
wningrn, wrongen, pp. wriingcn, wronge), < AS. 
wring 
writigan (pret. wrong, pp. wrtmgen), press, 
strain, wring, = D. wringen = LG. wringcn, 
twist together, = OHG. ringan, MHG. G. riiigen, 
wring, struggle, -wrestle, wrest, = Goth. *wrig- 
gan, indicated by the deriv. wriiggO, snare ; cf . 
Sw. vrdnga, distort, wrest, pervert, Dan. irin- 
gle, twist, tangle (vringel-hornet, having twisted 
horns); prob. connected with wrick, wrig, wry^. 
Hence ult. wrangle, wrong, etc.] I. trans. 1. 
To twist in the hands, as something flexible; 
twist or flex forcibly: as, to wring clothes after 
washing, to force out the water; to wring a 
friend's hand in cordial greeting: often with 
out. 
Mark how she wrings him by the fingers. 
Dekker and Webster, Northward Ho, ill. 2. 
Just help me wring these [clothes] out, and then I'll 
take 'era to the mangle. Mrs. Gaskell, Mary Barton, viii. 
2. To twist out of place, shape, or relation; 
bend or strain tortuously or twistingly: as, to 
wring a mast ; to wring the neck of a chicken. 
His neck in twa I wat they hae icrung. 
Jock o' the Side (Child's Ballads, VI. 84). 
My spirit yearns to bring 
The lost ones back — yearns with intense desire, 
And struggles hard to uring 
Thy bolts apart, and pluck thy captives hence. 
Bryant, The Past. 
3. To turn or divert the course or purport of; 
distort; pervert. [Archaic] 
Octavio was ever more uTong to the worse by many 
and sundry spites. 
Ascham, To John Asteley. (Encyc. Diet.) 
Or else they would straine us out a certaine figurative 
Prelat, by wringing the collective allegory of those seven 
Angels into seven single Rochets. 
Miltmi, Church-Government, 1. 6. 
4. To affect painfully by or as if by some con- 
torting or compressing action or effect; tor- 
ture; rack; distress; pain. 
Wee know where the shoo icrings yon. 
Milton, On Def. of Humb. Remonst. 
oh, I'ortius ! didst thou taste but half the griefs 
That icring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus coldly. 
Addison, Cato, 1. 1. 
5. To force out, as a fluid, by twisting or con- 
torting pressure; extract or obtain by or as if 
by a squeezing flextire ; hence, to squeeze out 
in any way; extort: as. to wring water from 
clothes ; to wring a reluctant consent from a 
person: often with out. 
He hatli, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave 
By iaboursome petition. Shak., Hamlet, 1. 2. 58. 
l^he Englisli government now chose to wring money out 
of Cheyte Sing. Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
To wring off, to force off or separate by wringing. 
The priest shall . . . wriHi;' q/T his head. Lev. I. 15. 
To 'Wring out. («) To force or siiuecze out by twisting. 
He . . . thrust the fieece together, and !/-n"n(/erf the dew 
out of the fleece. Judges vi. 38. 
(ft) To free from a liquid by twisting or compression: as, 
to tcring out clothes. 
And the Cabalists . . . say that Eves sinne was no- 
tlliiig but the wringing out of grapes to her husband. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 19. 
To wring the (or one's) hands, to manifest pain or dis- 
tress bymsi>ing theliands lightly together, with or with- 
out a twisting motion. 
."^o efter that he longe liadde byre compleyned, 
His fiondes wronge, and seyde that was to seye. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 1171. 
She urings her Hands, and beats lier Breast. 
C'ongreve, Death of Queen Mary. 
Vnder emotion we see swayings of the body and uring- 
ings of the hands. 
H. .Spencer, Pop. Sci. Mo., XXXVIII. 11. 
II. intrans. 1. To writhe; twist about, as 
with anguish; sqtiirm; suffer torture. 
Lat him care and wepe and wringe and waille. 
Chaucer, Clerks Tale, 1. 1156. 
"I'is all men's office to speak patience 
To those that wring under the load of sorrow. 
Shak., -Much Ado, v. 1. 28. 
Sndl as are impatient of rest. 
And icring beneath some private discontent. 
Chajtinan, Byron's Conspiracy, i. 1. 
2. To pinch ; pain. 
A faire shooe wrings, though it lie smoothe in the wear- 
ing, l^yly, lOuphues and his England, p. 474. 
3t. To force one's way by pressure. 
Tims out at holes gointe wringe 
Every tyding streght to Fame. 
Chaucer. House of Fame, 1. 2110. 
wring (ring), n. f< ME. wringe, wryngc. < AS. 
"wringe, m wiii-wringe,a wine-press, < wringan, 
press,' wring: see wring, r.} 1. A wringer or 
]iresser; a wine-press or cidcr-iiress. [(!)bsolete 
or prov. Eng.] 
And erly st'tte on werkviig hem the wrynge. 
i'.iHiK/m.i, lIuhboTi.lried:. i;. T. S ), p. lill. 
