[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/writhing/)

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# writhing

verb, -ing form of writhe (writhe, writhes, writhed, writhing); adjective (writhing)

«writhing» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Twisting and turning the body, usually because of pain, or wriggling like a snake or worm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#m1)
2. Feeling very embarrassed or upset: «writhing with embarrassment». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#m2)
3. Writhing can also describe something, such as smoke, that twists and curls through the air. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#m3)

### In the lessons

In stories, a character writhing on the ground is in great pain; snakes and worms writhe. In Alice in Wonderland, the Mock Turtle says that at school under the sea he learned «Reeling and Writhing» — a pun on reading and writing — and «the different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision» (puns on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). If someone is writhing in pain, get help from an adult fast.

### Examples

- The worm was writhing on the path. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x1)
- The Mock Turtle learned Reeling and Writhing at school. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x2)
- He lay writhing in pain after the fall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x3)
- The snake writhed as it slid across the sand. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x4)
- She was writhing with embarrassment. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x5)
- Call 999 (or 911, 112, 000, 111 in NZ) if someone is writhing in pain and badly hurt. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x6)
- They saw a blue smoke rising, writhing upward till it vanished in the blue ether. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/#x7)

### Note

Verb writhe: writhed, writhing (drop the e). The w is silent: «RYE-thing». Pun: Reeling and Writhing = reading and writing.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «writhing» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/writhing/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«writhing» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/writhing.html) on Mova free.