writhel 
writhelt, -writlllet (riTH'l), v. t. [Freq. of 
icrithc; ef. (r. dial. inWrff/H, twist together.] To 
wrinkle; shrivel; distort. 
This weak and writhled shrimp. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 8. 23. 
Cold, writhled eld, his life-sweat almost spent. 
MarstoH, Scourge of Villanie, iv. 36. 
writhent (riTH'en), p. a. Obsolete or archaic 
past participle of writhe. 
writheneck (rlTH'nek), n. Same as tcryneck, 3. 
writhingly (ri'THing-li), adv. In a writhing 
manner; with wi'ithiiig. [Rare.] 
"Oh I" turning over writhingly in her chair. 
jR. Brmighton, Belinda, xxx. 
writhlet, «'• t- See writhel. 
writing (ri'ting), n. [< ME. writing, writunge 
(cf. Icel. ritning); verba! n. oi write, u.] 1. The 
recording of words or sounds in significant 
characters; in the most general sense, any use 
of or method of using letters or other conven- 
tional symbols of uttered sounds for the visible 
preservation or transmission of ideas; specifi- 
cally, as distinguished from printing, stamping, 
incision, etc., the act or art of tracing graphic 
signs by hand on paper, parchment, or any other 
material, with a pen and ink, style, pencil, or 
any other instrument; also, the written charac- 
ters or words ; handwriting ; chirography. 
We have, thus, in this inscription at Abou-Symbal a 
cardinal example of Greek writing as it was used by the 
Ionian and Dorian settlers in Asia Minor and the islands 
about the begitming of the sixth century B. c 
C. T. Newton, Art and Archjeol., p. 101. 
Boman wn'imf/ — capital, uncial, half-uncial, and cursive 
— became known to the Western nations, and in different 
ways played the principal part in the formation of the 
national styles of writing. Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 155. 
2. The state of being written ; recorded form or 
expression: as, to put a proposition in writing ; 
to commit one's thoughts to roriting. in law the 
expressions in writing and written are often construed to 
include printed matter as well as manuscript. 
Ther [in Candia] was lawe fyrst put in wrytyng. 
Torkington, Diarie of Eiig. Travell, p. 19. 
Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing. 
2 Chron. ii. 11. 
3. That which is written, or in a written state ; 
a record made by hand in any way; a paper or 
instrument wholly or partly in manuscript; an 
inscription. 
The writing was the ipriting of God, graven upon the 
tables. Ex. xxxii. 16. 
Wliosoever shall put away his wife, let him give Iier a 
writing of divorcement. Mat. v. 31. 
I accepted of the Offer, and Writings were immediately 
drawn between us. Dampier, Voyages, I. 513. 
4. A production of the pen in general ; a lit- 
erary or other composition ; any expression of 
thought in visible words ; a scripture. 
X know not whether it cause greater pleasure to reade 
their writings, or astonishment and wonder at the Nation. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 176. 
The later Greek and Latin writings occasionally contain 
maxims [concerning warj which exhibit a considerable 
progress in this sphere. Lecky, Europ. Morals, II. 273. 
5. The expression of thought by written words ; 
the use of the pen in conveying ideas; literary 
production. 
It is to the credit of that age [eighteenth century] to 
have kept alive the wholesome tradition that Writing, 
whether in prose or verse, was an Art that required train- 
ing at least, if nothiiig more. 
Lowell, New Princeton Rev., II. 156. 
Direct or Independent writing. Same as pneuma- 
tograptiy, 1. — Writing obligatory. Same as obligation 
5(a). 
writing-book (n'ting-biik), )(. A blank book 
for pr.ictico in penmanship ; a copy-book. 
writing-box (ri'ting-boks), H. A small box con- 
taining a set of the materials used in Chinese 
or Japanese writing. See tcriting-set, 2. 
writing-cabinet (ri*ting-kab"i-ne't), n. Apiece 
of furniture in which a writing-desk is com- 
bined with drawers or cupboards, shelves for 
books, or other appliances. 
writing-case (ri'ting -kas), ». A ease con- 
taining materials and affording facilities for 
writing: a kind of portable writing-desk. 
writing-chambers (ri'ting-cham"b6rz), «. pi. 
Kooms or offices occupied by a lawyer and his 
clerks, etc.; a law office. 
writing-desk (ri'ting-desk), n. 1. A writing- 
table, especially one in which the whole or a 
jjart of the top is sloping, and the space below 
the top is occupied with drawers, pigeonholes, 
or shelves: sometimes there is also a raised 
frame or ease of drawers, shelves, or pigeon- 
holes. Compare writing-tiihle and escritoire. — 
2. A portable writing-case, usually made of 
6994 
wood and of moderate size, closing up tightly 
for security and convenience, and fitted to con- 
tain stationery of all sorts, papers on file, writ- 
ing materials, etc. 
writing-folio (ri'ting-fo'lio), n. A cover for 
writing-paper, etc., usually having leaves of 
blotting-paper within it, which serve as a pad 
for writing on. 
writing-frame (ri'ting-fram), n. A frame for 
the use of blind or partially blind persons in 
writing, made to hold the sheet of paper firmly, 
and furnished with an adjustable guide for the 
formation of lines. 
writing-ink (ri'ting-ingk), n. See mjJI, 1. 
writing-machine (ri'ting-ma-shen"), 11. Atype- 
writer. 
writing-master (ri'ting-mas"ter), n. 1. One 
who teaches the art of penmanship. — 2. The 
yellow bunting, Emheri~a citrinella : so named 
from the irregularly scribbled lines on its eggs. 
Also called scribbling or writing lark, for the 
same reason. See cut under yellowhammer. 
[Local, Eng.] 
writing-paper (ri'ting-pa"p6r), n. Paper fin- 
ished with a smooth surface, generally sized, 
for writing on. 
writing-reed (ri'ting-red), n. See reed^. 
writing-school (ri'ting-skol), n. A school or 
an academy where handwriting or calligraphy 
is taught. 
writing-set (ri'ting-set), «. 1. A set of small 
objects, necessary or useful, designed for a 
library-table, as inkstand, pen-tray, rack for 
pens, ease for paper and envelops, portfolio 
holding blotting-paper, candlesticks, etc., and 
sometimes larger articles in which two or more 
of the above are combined. These objects are 
often made to correspond in material and de- 
sign. — 2. A set of the boxes, ink-stone, water- 
pot, etc., used in Chinese and Japanese writing, 
often of lacquer, or mounted in metal. 
writing-table (ri'ting-ta"bl), n. 1. A table 
fitted for writing upon, sometimes differenti- 
ated from a writing-desk, as being a piece of 
furniture for the library rather than for the 
business office. — 2t. A tablet; a table-book. 
He asked for a writing-table, and wrote, saying. His name 
is John. Luke i. 63. 
The author defies them and their writing-tables. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, ii. 2. 
Knee-hole writing-table, a writing-table having a 
s<iuare or arched opening by which the knees of the per- 
son using it are accommodated under the surface upon 
which he writes, but with drawers, closets with pigeon- 
holes, or shelves, etc., on one or both sides. Also kn^e- 
hole desk. 
writing-telegraph (ri'ting-tel"e-graf ), n. Any 
telegraphic system in which the message is 
automatically recorded; more commonly, a 
telegraphic apparatus by means of which the 
record of the message reproduces the hand- 
writing of the sender — for example, the telau- 
to^aph. 
written (rit'n). Past participle of write. 
wrixlet, ». t. [ME., < AS. wrixUan, exchange.] 
1. To exchange. — 2. To envelop; wrap; con- 
found . 
What whylenes, or wanspede, iiyryxles our mynd? 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 9327. 
wrizzledt (riz'ld), a. [Prob. a form of writhel, 
writhlc, confused with grizzled.'] Wrinkled; 
shriveled. 
Her wrided skin, as rough as maple rind. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 47. 
His icrizzled [var. wrinkled] visage. Gay, Wine, 1. 9. 
wroghtet, wrohtet. Middle English forms of 
wrought, jn-eterit and past participle of work. 
wrokent, wroket. Obsolete past participles of 
irrealA, 
wrong (rong), a. and n. [So. wrong ; I. a. < ME. 
wrong, wrang, < AS. *wrang (not found as 
adj.) (= MD. wrnngh, wranck, D. wrong, bitter, 
harsh, sharp (of acids), = Icel. rongr, wry, 
wrong, unjust, = Sw. vrAng = Dan. rrang, 
wrong), < wringan (pret. wrang): see wring, v., 
and II. Cf. E. tort, wrong, nit. < L. tortus, twist- 
ed. II. w. < ME. wrong, wrong, < late AS. wrang 
= MD. wrongh, wronck, wrong : see I.] I. a. 
It. Crooked; twisted; wry. Wyclif. 
His bee [an eagle's] is get biforn wrong, 
Thog hise limes senden strong. 
Reliquise Antiqn.se, I. 210. 
2. Not right in state, adjustment, or the like ; 
not in order; disordered; perverse; being awry 
or amiss. 
I've heerd my aunt say as she found out as summat was 
wrong wi' Nancy as soon as th' milk turned bingy. 
Mrs. Oaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, xv. 
■wrong 
3. Deviating from right or truth ; not correct or 
justifiable in fact or morals; erroneous; per- 
verse : as, wrong ideas ; wrong courses. 
If his cause be wrong, our obedience to the king wipes 
the crime of it out of us. Shak., Hen. V., iv. 1. 138. 
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight, 
His can't be wrong whose life is in the right. 
Pope, Essay on Man, iii. 306. 
It is a wrong, egotistical, savage, unchristian feeling, 
and that 's the truth of it. Thatkeray, Waterloo. 
Men's judgments as to what is right and ivrong are not 
perfectly uniform. J. Sully, Outlines of PsychoL, p. 56)i. 
4. Deviating from that which is correct, proper, 
or suitable ; not according to intention, require- 
ment, purpose, or desire : as, the wrong side of 
a piece of cloth (the side to be turned inward). 
He call'd me sot. 
And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out. 
Shak., Lear, iv. 2. 8. 
I observe the Moral is vitious ; It points the wrang way, 
and puts the Prize into the wrong Hand. 
Jeremy Collier, Short View (ed. 1698), p. 210. 
I swear she 's no chicken ; she 's on the wrong side of 
thirty, if she be a day. Swift, Polite Conversation, i. 
Were their faces set in the right or in the wrang direc- 
tion ? Macaulay, Sir J. Macldntosh. 
5. In a state of misconception or error; not 
correct in action, belief, assertion, or the like ; 
mistaken; in error. 
I was wrong, 
I am always bound to you, but you are free. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
You are wrong, sir ; you are icrong. I have quite done 
with you. Be under no mistake upon that point. 
W. Bemnt, St. Katharine's, it 28. 
Wrong is in all senses the opposite and correlative of 
rigftt. 
In the wrong box. See box2,— Wrong font, said of a 
printers' type, etc. , that is not of the proper size or face 
for its position. Abbreviated w. /. =Syil. 2. Unfit, un- 
suitable, inappropriate, inapposite. — 3. Immoral, inequit- 
able, unfair. — 4. Incorrect^ faulty. 
II. n. 1. That which is wrong, amiss, or er- 
roneous ; the opposite of right, or of propriety, 
truth, justice, or goodness; wrongfulness; er- 
ror; evil. 
And the abusyng of jour Offyce, . . . 
And 3our fals gloslng of the wrang. 
Sail nocht mak 30W to rax heir lang. 
Lauder, Dewtie of Kyngis (E. E. T. S.X 1. ISl. 
A free determination 
'Twixt right and wrong. 
Shak.,T. andC, a 2. 171. 
The weak, against the sons of spoil and wrong. 
Banded, and watched their hamlets, and grew strong. 
Bryant, The Ages, st 11. 
Tliose who think to better wrong 
By working wrang shall seek thee wide 
To slay thee. 
William Morrig, Earthly Paradise, III. 34. 
2. Wrong action or conduct ; anything done 
contrary to right or justice ; a violation of law, 
obligation, or propriety; in Uiw, an invasion of 
right, to the damage of another person ; a tort: 
as, to do or commit wrong, or a wrong. 
For that Percevale ly Galoys was accused with grete 
wronge for the deth of the same hoot, like as an Kiiaiyte 
hit tolde after that hadde seyn all the dede. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ilL 475. 
Cease your open itrangs ! 
Cannot our Bishops scape your slanderous tongues? 
Timei WhisOe (E. E. T. S.), p. 10. 
It is probable that a man never knows the deep anguish 
of conscious wrang until he has had the courage to face 
in solitude its naked hideousness. 
J. Sully, Sensation and Intuition, p. 154. 
3. Harm or evil inflicted ; damage or detriment 
suffered ; an injury, mischief, hurt, or pain im- 
parted or received : as, to do one a wrong. 
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night 
Shelley, Prometheus, iv. 
4. A stat« of being wrong or of acting wrongly ; 
an erroneous or unjust ■view, attitude, or pro- 
cedure in regard to anything: chiefly in the 
phrase in the wrong. 
They were neither of them dissatisfied with the knight's 
determination, because neither of them found himself in 
the wrong by it. Addison. Spectator, Na 122. 
When People once are in the icrong. 
Each Line they add is much too long. 
Prior, Alma. iiL 
It is I who ought to be angry and unforgiving ; for I 
was in the wrong. Thackeray, De Finibns. 
Abandonment for wrongs. J^ee aba-ndonmei^.— ln 
the wrong, .'lee def. 4.— Private ■wrong. See private. 
— "to have ■wrong, (ot) To have or be on the wrong side ; 
be wrong, or in the wrong. 
When I had wrong and she the right. 
She wolde alwey so goodely 
Forgeve me so debonairly. 
Chaucer, Death of Blanche, 1. 1282. 
(b) To suffer the infliction of wrong ; have wrong treat- 
ment. 
Caesar has had great wrong. 
Shak., J. C, iii. 2. 115. 
