From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Writhe \Writhe\, v. t. [imp. Writhed; p. p. Writhed, Obs. or
Poetic Writhen; p. pr. & vb. n. Writhing.] [OE. writhen,
AS. wr[imac]?an to twist; akin to OHG. r[imac]dan, Icel.
r[imac]?a, Sw. vrida, Dan. vride. Cf. Wreathe, Wrest,
Wroth.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to
distort; to wring. "With writhing [turning] of a pin."
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Then Satan first knew pain,
And writhed him to and fro. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands.
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
2. To wrest; to distort; to pervert.
[1913 Webster]
The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part
of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are
writhed. --Hooker.
[1913 Webster]
3. To extort; to wring; to wrest. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of
their sovereign in writhing money from them by every
species of oppression. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Writhen \Writh"en\, a.
Having a twisted distorted from.
[1913 Webster]
A writhen staff his step unstable guides. --Fairfax.
[1913 Webster]