a. & v. See Wry. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To wriggle. [ Obs. ] Skelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Act of wriggling; a short or quick writhing motion or contortion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Wriggled p. pr. & vb. n. Wriggling ] [ Freq. of wrig, probably from OE. wrikken to move to and fro; cf. LG. wriggeln, D. wrikken, Sw. vricka, Dan. vrikke. ] To move the body to and fro with short, writhing motions, like a worm; to squirm; to twist uneasily or quickly about. [ 1913 Webster ]

Both he and successors would often wriggle in their seats,
as long as the cushion lasted. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Wriggling; frisky; pliant; flexible. [ Obs. ] “Their wriggle tails.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To move with short, quick contortions; to move by twisting and squirming; like a worm. [ 1913 Webster ]

Covetousness will wriggle itself out at a small hole. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wriggling his body to recover
His seat, and cast his right leg over. Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, wriggles. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. wrighte, writhe, AS. wyrtha, fr. wyrcean to work. √145. See Work. ] One who is engaged in a mechanical or manufacturing business; an artificer; a workman; a manufacturer; a mechanic; esp., a worker in wood; -- now chiefly used in compounds, as in millwright, wheelwright, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was a well good wright, a carpenter. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A rare alkaloid found in the bark of an East Indian apocynaceous tree (Wrightia antidysenterica), and extracted as a bitter white crystalline substance. It was formerly used as a remedy for diarrhœa. Called also conessine, and neriine. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Wrung Obs. Wringed p. pr. & vb. n. Wringing. ] [ OE. wringen, AS. wringan; akin to LG. & D. wringen, OHG. ringan to struggle, G. ringen, Sw. vränga to distort, Dan. vringle to twist. Cf. Wrangle, Wrench, Wrong. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes in washing. “Earnestly wringing Waverley's hand.” Sir W. Scott. “Wring him by the nose.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ His steed ] so sweat that men might him wring. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king began to find where his shoe did wring him. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The priest shall bring it [ a dove ] unto the altar, and wring off his head. Lev. i. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to pain; to distress; to torment; to torture. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too much grieved and wrung by an uneasy and strait fortune. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Didst thou taste but half the griefs
That wring my soul, thou couldst not talk thus coldly. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To distort; to pervert; to wrest. [ 1913 Webster ]

How dare men thus wring the Scriptures? Whitgift. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To extract or obtain by twisting and compressing; to squeeze or press (out); hence, to extort; to draw forth by violence, or against resistance or repugnance; -- usually with out or form. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your overkindness doth wring tears from me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece. Judg. vi. 38. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To subject to extortion; to afflict, or oppress, in order to enforce compliance. [ 1913 Webster ]

To wring the widow from her 'customed right. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The merchant adventures have been often wronged and wringed to the quick. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Naut.) To bend or strain out of its position; as, to wring a mast. [ 1913 Webster ]