A writhen staff his step unstable guides. --Fairfax.
Then Satan first knew pain, And writhed him to and
fro. --Milton.
Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown.
--Dryden.
His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands.
--Tennyson.
2. To wrest; to distort; to pervert.
The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part
of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are
writhed. --Hooker.
3. To extort; to wring; to wrest. [R.]