different between curl vs writhe

English

Etymology

From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzl? (“bent or crooked object, curl”), of unknown origin.

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian krull (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crumpled, curly”), Swedish krusa (“to crimp, curl”). Compare also Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (kriustan, “to grind, crush, gnash”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k??l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)l

Noun

curl (plural curls)

1. A piece or lock of curling hair; a ringlet.
2. A curved stroke or shape.
   • 1995, John Curtis, Julian Reade, & Dominique Collon, Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum, page 184:

     […] the backs of their necks and their forelegs are decorated with curls and their necks and bodies are covered with fine, undulating lines.

3. A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.
   • 1909, Harold Horsfall Hilton, The Six Handicap Golfer's Companion^[2], page 38:

     It is possible to use the wind which blows from the left to the right by playing well into the wind with the slightest bit of curl on the ball […]

4. (curling) Movement of a moving rock away from a straight line.
5. (weightlifting) Any exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.
   • 2007 (Jan/Feb), Jon Crosby, "Your Winter Muscle Makeover", Men's Health, page 54:

     Now do a curl and an overhead press, keeping your palms facing in.

6. (calculus) The vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.

7. (calculus, proper noun) The vector operator, denoted ${\displaystyle {\rm {{curl}\;}}}$ or ${\displaystyle {\vec {\nabla }}\times {\vec {\left(\cdot \right)}}}$, that generates this field.
8. (agriculture) Any of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.
9. (music, chiefly lutherie) The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the flame.

10. (American football) A pattern where the receiver appears to be running a fly pattern but after a set number of steps or yards quickly stops and turns around, looking for a pass.

Synonyms

• (lock of curling hair): ringlet
• (curved stroke or shape): curlicue, curve, flourish, loop, spiral

Antonyms

• (weightlifting exercise): extension

Coordinate terms

• (calculus): gradient, divergence, rotational

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

curl (third-person singular simple present curls, present participle curling, simple past and past participle curled)

1. (transitive) To cause to move in a curve.
2. (transitive) To make into a curl or spiral.
3. (intransitive) To assume the shape of a curl or spiral.
4. (intransitive) To move in curves.
5. (intransitive, curling) To take part in the sport of curling.

6. (transitive, weightlifting) To exercise by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially of the biceps.
7. To twist or form (the hair, etc.) into ringlets.
   • There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved, put in curlers overnight, waved with hot tongs; […].

8. To deck with, or as if with, curls; to ornament.
   • 1633, George Herbert, Jordan

     Curling with metaphors a plain intention.

9. To raise in waves or undulations; to ripple.

   • Seas would be pools without the brushing air / To curl the waves.

10. (hat-making) To shape (the brim of a hat) into a curve.

Synonyms

• (to make into a curl or spiral): arch, coil, roll up
• (to assume the shape of a curl or spiral): coil, roll up
• (to move in curves): curve, spiral

Antonyms

• (to make into a curl or spiral): straighten, uncoil, unroll
• (to assume the shape of a curl or spiral): straighten, uncoil, unroll

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• coil

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

English

Etymology

From Middle English writhen, from Old English wr?þan, from Proto-West Germanic *wr?þan, from Proto-Germanic *wr?þan? (“to weave, twist, turn”) (compare Old High German r?dan (“to wind, turn”), Old Norse ríða (“to wind”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist, writhe”). Compare Lithuanian ri?sti (“to unbend, wind, roll”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?th, IPA^(key): /?a?ð/
• Rhymes: -a?ð

Verb

writhe (third-person singular simple present writhes, present participle writhing, simple past writhed or (archaic) wrothe, past participle writhed or (archaic) writhen)

1. (transitive) To twist, to wring (something).
2. (transitive) To contort (a part of the body).
   • 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:

     She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good.

     She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood.

     They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,

     Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,

     Cold, on the stroke of midnight,

     The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

3. (intransitive) To twist or contort the body; to be distorted.
4. (transitive) To extort.

Translations

Noun

writhe (plural writhes)

1. (rare) A contortion.
2. (knot theory) The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot

Anagrams

• Wither, whiter, wither, wither-

Middle English

Verb

writhe

1. Alternative form of writhen