different between falter vs writhe
falter
English
Alternative forms
- faulter (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English falteren (“to stagger”), further origin unknown. Possibly from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse faltrask (“be encumbered”). May also be a frequentative of fold, although the change from d to t is unusual.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?f??lt?(r)/, /?f?lt?(r)/
Noun
falter
- unsteadiness.
Translations
Verb
falter (third-person singular simple present falters, present participle faltering, simple past and past participle faltered)
- To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off.
- 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds
- He found his legs falter.
- 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds
- (transitive, intransitive) To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.
- 1807, Lord Byron, Childish Recollections
- And here he faltered forth his last farewell.
- 1807, Lord Byron, Childish Recollections
- To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought.
- 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening
- Here indeed the power of distinctly conceiving of space and distance falters.
- 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening
- To stumble.
- (figuratively) To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).
- And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter.
- To hesitate in purpose or action.
- To cleanse or sift, as barley.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
Translations
References
falter From the web:
- what falter means
- what falter means in spanish
- faltering economy meaning
- what does faltered mean
- what does falter mean
- what is faltering growth
- what does faltering lips mean
- what does faltered mean in the outsiders
writhe
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)
- (transitive) To twist, to wring (something).
- (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!
- 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:
- (intransitive) To twist or contort the body; to be distorted.
- (transitive) To extort.
Translations
Noun
writhe (plural writhes)
- (rare) A contortion.
- (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
- Alternative form of writhen
writhe From the web:
- what writhes
- what writhes more than
- writhes meaning
- what writhen means
- to weather means
- writhe what does it mean
- what does writhing mean
- what does writhed mean
you may also like
- falter vs writhe
- side vs hip
- lionheartedness vs gallantry
- discomfort vs grief
- openhanded vs extravagant
- cheap vs detestable
- neutral vs dispassionate
- winning vs lovable
- joyous vs sparkling
- unfruitful vs waste
- prevision vs presage
- foot vs shoot
- eminent vs prime
- madden vs rankle
- conservation vs assistance
- set vs camp
- bevy vs school
- shield vs preservation
- sleeping vs hibernating
- emphasise vs proclaim