wring 
2+. Action expressive of anguish ; writhing. 
The sighs, and te.irs. and hhibhers, and vm'iisis of a dis- 
consolate mourner. Bp. Hall, Contemp., iv. 24. 
wringer (ring'er), «. [< ME. tcrinfier ; < ivriiig 
+ -cri.] 1. One who wrings, as clothes. 
His washer and his wringer. Shak., li. W. of W., i. 2. 5. 
2. An apparatus for forcing water from any- 
thing wet ; especially, a utensil for laundry pur- 
poses, in which, however, the clothes are not 
wrung or twisted, but are passed between two 
or more adjustable rollers which press strongly 
against each other. — 3. An extortioner. 
wringing-maclline (ring'ing-ma-shen"), n. A 
machine for pressing moistiire from something; 
especially, a clothes-wringer. 
wringing-wet (ring'iug-wet;, a. So wet as to 
require wringing; so wet that water may be 
wrung out. 
A poore fisherman, . . . with Iiis clothes icrtni/raiir-we*. 
llmker, Sermon on Jude. 
wring-staff (ring'staf), «. A strong bar of wood 
used by shipwrights in bending planks and 
binding them in i)laee. Also u-raiu-xtriff. 
wrinklel (ring'kl), n. [< ME. wrhikH, wr'ni- 
Irl, ici-iiicic, icryiikiil, < AS. *w)i»de (Somner) = 
MD. wrinckcJ, u-njiickel, a wrinkle; a dim. form, 
perhaps from the root of wriug, t: The leel. 
hnikka = Sw. rynl-a = Ban. ripike, a wrinkle, ap- 
pear to be of different origin: see r«ct2.] A 
slight ridge in or raised line on a surface caused 
by contraction,folding, puckering, or rumpling; 
a line of coiTugation, generally one of a series, 
either regularly or irregularly disposed; a 
crease: as, wrinkles in a garment, or in an old 
man's face; wrinkles (small corrugations) in a 
rock. 
Wrynkyl or playte in clothe. Plica. 
Prompt. Parv., p. WH. 
With mirth and laughter let old tvrinkle^i come. 
Shak., M. of v., i. 1. 80. 
A jilorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. 
Eph. V. 27. 
wrinkle! (ring'kl), v. ; pret. and pp. wrinkled, 
ypi-.tcriiikliny. [= MD. wrinekelen, u-rynckelen; 
from the noun.] I. trans. To form wrinkles in; 
contract, fold, or pucker into small ridges and 
fun-ows or creases ; corrugate; crease. 
Hollow eye and wrinkled brow. 
Sluik., M. of v., iv. 1. 270. 
Within the surface of the fleeting river 
The wrinkled image of the city lay. 
Shelleij, Evening. 
So yellow as she was, so ^crinkled, so sad of mien ! 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, vii. 
No care may wrinkle thy smooth brow. 
William Morris, Earthly J'aradise, I. 157. 
II, intrdns. To become contracted into wrin- 
kles ; shrink into furrows and ridges ; be marked 
with wrinkles. 
When high in the field the fern-leaves ivrinkle, 
And brown is the grass where the mowers have mown. 
H. W. Gilder, Lyrics, Song of Early Autuuu). 
Mrs. Putney was a small woman, already beginning to 
vmnkle. Hoivells, Annie Kilhurn, iv. 
wrinkle'-^ (ring'kl), n. [A particular use, orig. 
slang, of wrinkle'^, «. According to Skeat, it is 
a dim. of ME. icrink,wrenk,i AS. icrenc, a trick: 
see wrench, ».] A short pithy piece of informa- 
tion or advice ; a valuable hint ; a bit of useful 
knowledge or instruction ; a good idea ; a trick ; 
a point; a notion; a device. [Oolloq.] 
They are too experte in loue, hauing learned in this time 
of their long peace euery urinckle that is to be scene or 
imagined. ^tfly, Euphues and his England, p. 389. 
Philip, when thou goes courtin', come t' me, and a'll give 
thee many a wrii^kle. Mrs. (jfaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, .\ii. 
Oh, you are up to this wrinkle, are you ? 
Harper's Marj., LXXVIII. 659. 
wrinkle-beaked (riug'kl-bekt), «. Having a 
wrinkled, sulcate, or ridged and fun'owed bill: 
specifying one of the anis, Crutojilunja sulciros- 
tris. This bird is common in parts of Texas, and thence 
through much of South America. See cut under ani. 
wrinkled (ring'kld), «. In ^ooV., marked with 
parallel and somewhat irregular raised lines; 
having wi-inkles; rugose; corrugated Wrinkled 
hombill, the bird Cranorhinus cfjrrwjatus, whose high 
carinated castiue is lateridly corrugated. 
wrinkling-machine (nngk'Ung-ma-shen"), II. 
A machine for forniirjg transverse wrinkles on 
the ujiper leathers of boots and shoes. 
wrinkly (ringk'li), n. [< wrinkle'^ + -i/i.] 
Somewhat wrinkled ; having a tendency to be 
wrinkle<l; piu'kered; creased. 
His old wrinkly face grew finite blown-out at last. 
Carhjle, The fentury, XXIV. 18. 
Mrs. Waule . . . giving occasional dry wrinkly indica- 
tions of crying. Qeorfie Eliot, .Middlemarcli, xxxii. 
6992 
Wrisbergian (ris-b^r'gi-an), a. [< Wrisberg: 
see def.] Of or pertaining to, or named after, 
H. A. Wrisberg (1739-1808). a German anato- 
mist: noting various anatomical parts, com- 
monly described in English as of Wrisberg, or 
JVrisherg's, not Wrisbergian. 
Wrisberg's abdominal brain. The solarplexus 
of the sympathetic nerve. 
Wrisberg's cartilage. See cartilage of ll'ris- 
Inrg, under cartilage. 
Wrisberg's ganglion. See cardiac ganglion of 
ll'ri.sberg, under ganglion. 
Wrisberg's nerve. See nerve of Wrisberg, un- 
der nerve. 
wrist (list), n. [Early mod. E. also wreast, 
wrest; < ME. wrist, wrists, also wirste, wyrste, < 
AS. wrist (usually in comp. hand-wrist) = 
OFries. wriiist, riust, wirst, ircrst (Jiond-wriust, 
'hand-wrist,'/o/-M'riM6<, 'foot-wrist,' instep) = 
LG. wrist = MHG. rist, riste, G. rist (G. dial. 
frist), hand- or foot-joint; ef. G. wida'-ri.s-t, 
withers of a horse (see witliers), = leel. rist = 
Sw. Dan. vrist, instep; with formative -t (-tht 
> -St), < writhan, twist, writhe: see tvrithe, and 
cf. wrest.'] 1. That part of the fore limb or 
arm which comes between the forearm and the 
hand, and by which the latter Is joined or 
jointed to the former ; the wrist-joint ; techni- 
cally, the carpus, or the carpal articulation. 
The wrist is the first segment of the manus, and its skele- 
ton consists in man of seven carpal bones, together with 
a sesamoid bone (the ijisiform) on the ulnar side, these 
eight bones being disposed in two rows of four each, proxi- 
mal and distal. The whole set of bones, their articula- 
tions with one another and with the radius, ulna, and the 
several metacarpals, together with the ligaments and other 
associated soft parts, are included in the term wrist. The 
motions of the wrist as a whole upon the forearm include 
all the movements of flexion, extension, abduction, ad- 
duction, and circumduction, together with the move- 
ments of pronation and supination impressed upon the 
wrist bytlie rockiiigof the radius about the ulna; hut the 
motion of the individual carpal bones upon one another is 
slight, and that between the distal carpals and the meta- 
carpals is still less. In most other animals than man, the 
movements of the wrist are more restricted. Tlie term is 
extended to the corresponding joint of the fore limb of 
other mammals, birds, and reptiles. Thus the so-called 
knee of the horse's fore leg is anatomically the carpus or 
wrist. See carpus, and cuts under hand, pigij&mt, and 
seaphd.unar. 
Little Preston was found there with both his hands cut 
off by the wreasts. 
W. Patten, Ex. into Scotland (Arber'sEng. Garner.Ul. 128). 
2+. The ankle or the instep. 
Then he put on the old man's hose, 
Were patch'd from knee to ivrist. 
Robin Hood Rescuing the Widow's Three Sons (Child's Bal- 
[lads, V. 2W). 
3. In viach., a stud or pin projecting from the 
side of a crank, wheel, or other moving part, 
and forming a means of attachment to a con- 
necting-rod leading to some other part of the 
mechanism. Also called wrist-pin Bridle wrist, 
in the mnn^ge, the wrist of the horseman's left hand. 
Compare hrittle-hand. — lyrist Of the wrist See twu't. 
— Wrist touch, in pianoforte-playing, a stroke or touch 
which proceeds from the wrist rather than from the fin- 
gers alone or from the whole forearm. 
wristband (rist 'band, coUoq. riz'band), n. 
That band or part of a sleeve, especially of a 
shirt-sleeve, which covers the wrist. The wrist- 
bands sewed on to shirt-sleeves were formerly continued 
with a flare over the upper part of the hand, serving the 
purpose of the separate stilt cults buttoned to the nar- 
row wristbands now in use. In the times of more elabo- 
rate dressing such wristbands were often very long, and 
adorned with rich lace or fine embroidery. 
With that the hands to pocket went, 
Full wristband deep. Vanbrugh, jEsop, ii. 1. 
He . . . wore very stilt collars, and prodigiously long 
nrist-bands. 
Dickens, A Rogue's Life, i. (Household Words.) 
wrist-bone (rist' bon), n. Any bone of the wrist 
or carpus ; a carpal bone. See carpus, irrisf, and 
cuts under hand, pisiform, and scaphohinar. 
wrist-clonus (rist'klo'nus), H. A series of jerky 
movements of the hand produced in certain 
nervous diseases by a sudden forcible bending 
back of the wrist. 
wrist-drop (rist'drop), «. Inability to extend 
the hand, owing to paralysis of the extensor 
muscles in the forearm. It is commonly asso- 
ciated with lead-poisoning. Also called drop- 
wrist. 
The case of chronic lead poisoning, with its accompany- 
ing wrist-drop, caused by the paralysis of the extensors. 
Amcr. Anthropologist, I. 68. 
wrister (ris'ter), n. A covering for the wrist ; 
a wristlet. [Local. U. S.] 
A neiglilior, come to tea, was crocheting wristers for her 
guardian. The Century, X.XVI. 624. 
wristfall (rist'fal), n. A deep ruffle of various 
materials, usually lace, falling from a wrist- 
■writ 
band or the lower part of a sleeve. See fall^, 
n., 8. 
Men and women alike were in Puritan dress. Some, 
however, had discarded the lace wriM.falls and neckbands. 
A. E. Barr, Friend Olivia, iii- 
■wrist-guide (rist'gid), «. Same as chiroplast. 
wrist-joint (rist'joint), h. The carpal joint 
proper; the radiocarpal articulation, by which 
the hand as a whole moves upon the forearm : 
chiefly used as applied to man. See carpus, 
wrist, and radiocarpal articulation (under radio- 
carpal). 
•wristlet (rist'let), «. [< wrist + -let.'] 1. A 
band worn around the wrist : applied to various 
useful or ornamental objects of the soi't. (o) A 
covering of thick material for the wrist to protect it un- 
der exposure to cold. (6J A bracelet. 
A siren lithe and debonaire, 
With loristlets woven of scarlet beads. 
?'. B. Aldrich, Pampina. 
2. A handcuff. [Humorous or slang.] 
Two or three of the party wearing black dresses instead 
of grey, with leg irons as well as wristlets, to show that 
they were bad-conduct men. 
DaHy Telegraph, Dec. 31, 1881. (Eneyc. Diet.) 
wrist-link (rist'lingk), n. A link with con- 
nected buttons, used for the wristband or cuff. 
Encyc. Diet. 
wrist-pin (rist'pin), «. 1. In mach., any pin 
forming a means of connecting a pitman to a 
cross-head or crank ; more particularly, the pin 
of the crank to which a pitman is connected. 
The pin in the cross-head is in the United States more 
generally called cross-head pin. 
2. A pin in a wrist-plate of a steam-engine, 
whether connected with an eccentric-rod or 
with a valve-rod. 
wrist-plate (rist' plat), v. l. A plate which 
oscillates on a central pivot, and from the face 
of which project one or more crank-pins or 
-ivrists f or the connection of rods or pitmans. — 
2. Specifically, a plate used in some kinds of 
automatic cut-oflf engines. It has a reciprocating 
rotaiy motion on a central pivot, and is actuated through 
a limited arc by the rod of an eccentric on the crank-shaft 
of the engine. From its face project four crank-wrist*, 
which give it its name. Two of these wrists are respec- 
tively connected with rods that actuate the rocker-arma 
of two separate oscillating plug-valves, for introducing 
steam into the cylinder on opposite sides of the piston 
alternately. The other two wrists are similarly connected 
to Independently operating exhaust-valves. 
■writi (rit), ». f< ME. writ, wryt, wrytt, iwrit, < 
AS. qe-writ, icrit, a writ, writing, or scripture 
(= OHG. )•).-, a letter, MHG. ri:, G. ris.i, a rent, 
a tear, rit:c, a wound, a scratch. = Icel. rit, a 
writ, writing, penmanship, = Goth, writs, a 
stroke, a point), < writan, etc., write : see write.] 
1. That which is written ; a writing: used es- 
pecially of the Bible, with holy or sacred, often 
capitalized as a title. 
■Wherfore thei conne meche of Holy Wrytt, but thei un- 
dirstoude it not but attre the Lettre. 
Manderille, Travels, p. 136. 
O cursed Eld ! the cankerworme of tcrits, 
How may these rimes, so rude as doth appeare, 
Hoi)e to endure? Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 33. 
This city [Casarea] is remarkable in sacred tcrit upon 
several accounts. Pococke, Description of the East, II. 1 60. 
2. In Inir, a precept under seal, in the name of 
the people, or the sovereign, or other compe- 
tent legal authority, commanding the officer or 
other person to whom it is addressed or issued 
to do or refrain from doing some specified act. 
In early times, when the pleadings and proceedings gen- 
erally in actions were oral, writs were, as the name im- 
plies, the written parts of an action (besides judgments in 
courts of recordx it being for obvious reasons required that 
the warrant by which a person or his property might be 
seized, or his conduct controlled under penalty of con- 
tempt, should be expressed in writing and attested by the 
name and seal of the government. 
3. A formal instrument or writing of any kind. 
I . . . 
Folded the writ up in form of the other. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 51. 
Barons by Writ Scefcoron.l.— Close writs. tieeclose2. 
— Indorsed writ See t'ndorsc— Judicial 'Writ, a writ 
issued by the court, as distinguished from an original 
MTt(.— Optional writ See oplionat.— Original writ 
(a) The writ formerly required to be issued from Chan- 
cery, under the seal of the sovereign, before the commence- 
ment of an action in a court of common law : so called to 
distinguish it from judicial writs, or writs issued by the 
court in which the action was thus brought, in the course 
of prosecuting the action. (6) In the United States, a man- 
datory precept issuing out of the clerk's office in any of the 
courts of law, by the authority ai]d in the name of the State 
or commonwealth, under the seal of the court from which 
it issues, bearing teste of the chief justice of the court, if 
he is not a party, and signed by the clerk of the court. 
(Heard.) Its object is to compel the appearance of the de- 
fendant, or at least to give him due notice that he is sued. 
In most of tlie States it has been sui>erseded by a summons, 
issued by the plaintiff's attorney, giving such notice and 
requiring the defendant to plead. See also original writ, 
under (iWytno;.— Peremptory, Prsemunlentes, pre^ 
