wreathe

wreathe
wreather, n.
/reedh/, v., wreathed; wreathed or (Archaic) wreathen; wreathing.
v.t.
1. to encircle or adorn with or as with a wreath.
2. to form as a wreath by twisting or twining.
3. to surround in curving or curling masses or form.
4. to envelop: a face wreathed in smiles.
v.i.
5. to take the form of a wreath or wreaths.
6. to move in curving or curling masses, as smoke.
[1520-30; earlier wrethe, partly v. use of WREATH, partly back formation from wrethen, obs. ptp. of WRITHE]

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wreathe — Wreathe, v. t. [imp. {Wreathed}; p. p. {Wreathed}; Archaic {Wreathen}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Wreathing}.] [See {Wreath}, n.] [Written also {wreath}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To cause to revolve or writhe; to twist about; to turn. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] And… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Wreathe — Wreathe, v. i. To be intewoven or entwined; to twine together; as, a bower of wreathing trees. Dryden. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wreathe — index intertwine Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • wreathe — [ri:ð] v literary [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: Partly from wreath; partly from wrethen, old past participle of writhe] 1.) be wreathed in sth to be covered in something ▪ The mountains were wreathed in mist. 2.) be wreathed in smiles to be smiling… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • wreathe — [ rið ] verb MAINLY LITERARY 1. ) transitive usually passive if something is wreathed in something such as smoke, steam, or shadow, it is surrounded by it: The city below them was wreathed in mist. a ) intransitive if smoke, steam or MIST… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • wreathe — (v.) 1520s, a back formation from wrethen, Middle English pp. of WRITHE (Cf. writhe). Related: Wreathed; wreathing …   Etymology dictionary

  • wreathe — *wind, coil, curl, twist, twine, entwine …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • wreathe — ► VERB 1) (usu. be wreathed) envelop, surround, or encircle. 2) (of smoke) move with a curling motion. ORIGIN from WRITHE(Cf. ↑writhe), reinforced by WREATH(Cf. ↑wreath) …   English terms dictionary

  • wreathe — [rēth] vt. wreathed, wreathing [Early ModE, back form. < ME wrethen, pp. of writhen,WRITHE; in later use < WREATH] 1. to coil, twist, or entwine, esp. so as to form into a wreath 2. to coil, twist, or entwine around; encircle [clouds… …   English World dictionary

  • wreathe — en·wreathe; in·ter·wreathe; un·wreathe; wreathe; …   English syllables

  • wreathe — UK [riːð] / US [rɪð] verb Word forms wreathe : present tense I/you/we/they wreathe he/she/it wreathes present participle wreathing past tense wreathed past participle wreathed mainly literary 1) a) [transitive, usually passive] if something is… …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”