Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To twist or entwine into a wreath or a wreathlike shape.
- intransitive verb To crown or decorate with a wreathe.
- intransitive verb To encircle or surround.
- intransitive verb To extend across; cover.
- intransitive verb To coil or curl.
- intransitive verb To curl, writhe, or spiral.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To twist; form by twisting.
- To writhe; contort; distort.
- To form into a wreath; adjust as a wreath or circularly; cause to pass about something.
- To form or make by intertwining; also, to twist together or intertwine; combine, as several things into one, by twisting and intertwining.
- To surround with a wreath or with anything twisted or twined; infold; twist, twine, or fold round.
- To form or become a wreath about; encircle.
- To take the form of a wreath; hence, to mingle or interlace, as two or more things with one another.
- In milling, to hug the eye of the millstone so closely as to retard or prevent its descent: said of flour or meal.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To cause to revolve or writhe; to twist about; to turn.
- transitive verb To twist; to convolve; to wind one about another; to entwine.
- transitive verb To surround with anything twisted or convolved; to encircle; to infold.
- transitive verb To twine or twist about; to surround; to encircle.
- intransitive verb To be intewoven or entwined; to twine together.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
twist ,curl orentwine something into a shape similar to awreath - verb transitive To form a wreathlike shape around something
- verb intransitive To
curl ,writhe orspiral in the form of a wreath - verb obsolete To
turn violently aside or around; towrench .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb form into a wreath
- verb move with slow, sinuous movements
- verb decorate or deck with wreaths
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Universal shallowness wonders and applauds; and Aristarchus the Little, fired to dare fresh achievements, is certain of new weeds to wreathe with his deciduous bays.
“Recent exemplifications of false philology” « Motivated Grammar
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He would have his audience there, where the setting sun might wreathe him in an aura of brilliance.
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But if I find myself in company with other people, words at once make smoke rings — see how phrases at once begin to wreathe off my lips.
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And I love the “new weeds to wreathe with his deciduous bays.”
“Recent exemplifications of false philology” « Motivated Grammar
-
Universal shallowness wonders and applauds; and Aristarchus the Little, fired to dare fresh achievements, is certain of new weeds to wreathe with his deciduous bays.
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He would have his audience there, where the setting sun might wreathe him in an aura of brilliance.
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He would have his audience there, where the setting sun might wreathe him in an aura of brilliance.
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But if I find myself in company with other people, words at once make smoke rings — see how phrases at once begin to wreathe off my lips.
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Someday they, too, may return to wreathe the fleshless grin of this country, the nexus of their souls.
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Mannanan, for example, is a "real" myth, and he did does? have the power to wreathe the island in mists to hide it from invaders.
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