Volume 2

A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed, a history of the language, and an English grammar / by Samuel Johnson.

Samuel Johnson

Date:: 1755

Credit: A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed, a history of the language, and an English grammar / by Samuel Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

1156/1176

$Another, by a iall in ivrejlling^ ftartcd the end of the cla¬ vicle from the {lemon., IVijeman s Surgery. 1 o play or wrejile well, itfhould be ufed with thofe that do it better. Temple. None in the leap fpring with fo ftrong a bound, Or firmer in the wrejtling prei's the ground. Pope. 2. To ftruggle; to contend. Iperluaded them, if they lov’d Benedick, To wifh him wrejile with affeCtion, And never to let Beatrice know of it. Shakefpeare\ He knew not how to wrejile with defperate contingencies, and fo abhorred to be entangled in fuch. Clarendon. Wr e'stler. n.f. [hom wrejile.] 1. One who wreftles; one who profeffes the athletick art. Was not Charles, the duke’s wrejller, here? Shakefp, When the young wrefllers at their fport grew warm. Old Milo wept, to fee his naked arm. Denham. ’Tis not from whom, but where we live; The place does oft thofe graces give: Great Julius, on the mountains bred, A flock perhaps, or herd, had led ; He that the world fubdu’d, had been But the beft wrejller on the green. Waller* 2. One who contends in wreftling. So earneft with thy God, can no new care. No fenfe of danger, interrupt thy prayer ? The facred wrejiler, ’till a blefling giv’n. Quits not his hold, but halting conquers heav’n. Waller. Two wrejllers help to pull each other down. Dry den. WRETCH, n.f [ppecca, Saxon.] 1. A miferable mortal. When I loved, I was a wretch. ' . Accidence. She weeps, and fays her Henry is depos’d; He fmiles, and fays his Edward is inftall’d ; 1 hat fhe, poor wretch, for grief can fpeak no more. Shah. The butcher takes away the calf. And binds the wretch, and beats it when it ftrives. Shakefp. Illuftrious wretch ! repine not, nor reply : View not what heav’n ordains, with reafon’s eye; For bright the objeCl is, the diftance is too high. Prior. 2. A worthlefs forry creature. Bafe-rrtinded wretches, are your thoughts fo deeply bemired in the trade of ordinary worldlings, as for refpeCt of gain fome paultry wool may yield you, to let fo much time pafs without knowing perfectly her eftate ? Sidney. He now Has thefe poor men in queftion : never faw I Wretches fo quake ; they kneel, they kifs the earth, b or!wear themfelves as often as they fpeak. Shakefpeare. Title of honour, worth and virtue’s right. Should not be given to a wretch fo vile. Daniel’s Civil War. When they are gone, a Company of ftarved hungry wretches fhall take their places. L’EJlrange. 3. It is ufed by way of flight, or irbnical pity, or contempt When foon away the wafp doth go ; Poor wretch was never frighted fo : He thought his wings were much too flow, O’erjoy’d they fo were parted. Drayton’s Nymphid. 'I hen, if the fpider find him fall befet, She iffues forth, and runs along her loom : She joys to touch the captive in her net. And drags the little wretch in triumph home. Dryden. 4. It is fometimes a word of tendernefs, as we now fay poor thing. Chaftened but thus, and thus his leflon taught, 7 he happy wretch (he put into her breaft. Sidney. WreTched. adj. [from wretch.] 1. Miferable; unhappy. Thefe we fhould judge to be moft miferable, but that a wretcheder fort there are, on whom, whereas nature hath be¬ llowed ripe capacity, their evil difpofition ferioufly goeth about therewith to apprehend God, as being not God. Hooker. O cruel death ! to thofe you are more kind. Than to the wretched mortals left behind. Waller. Why do’ft thou drive me To range all o’er a wafte and barren place, 7 o find a friend ? The wretched have no friends. Dryden. 2. Calamitous; afflictive. 3. Sorry ; pitiful; paltry; worthlefs. When God was ferved with legal facrifices, fuch was the miferable and wretched condition of fome mens minds, that the belt of every thing they had, being culled out for them¬ felves, if there were in their flocks, any poor, ftarved, or dif- eafed thing not worth the keeping, they thought it good enough for the altar of God. Hooker. AffeCted noife is the moft wretched thing, That to contempt can empty fcribblers bring. Rcfcomrnon. Forgive the many failings of thofe who, with their wretched art, cannot arrive to thofe heights that you poflefs. Dryden. 4. Defpicable ; hatefully contemptible. An adventure worthy to be remembered for the unufed ex- 1 am pies therein, as well of true natural goodnefs as of wretched ungratefulnefs. Sidney. Wretchedly, adv. [from wretchedJ 1. Miferably; unhappily, from thefe two wars, fo wretchedly entered into, the duke’s ruin took its date. Clarendm. 2. Meanly; defpicably. When fuch little {huffing arts come once to be ripped up, and laid open, how poorly and wretchedly muft that man fneak, who finds himfelf guilty and baffled too ? South. Wretchedness, n.f [from wretched.] 1. Mifery ; unhappinefs ; affii&ed ftate. My mifery cannot be greater than it is: fear not the danger of my blind fteps, I cannot fall worfe than I am, and do not obftinately continue to in fed-thee with my wretch ednefs. Sidn. He ’gan inquire What hard mifhap him brought to fuch diftrefs, And made that caitif’s thrall the thrall of wretchednefs. F. JK Clarion did at laft decline To loweft wretchednefs ; and is there then Such rancor in the hearts of mighty men ? Spenfer. When they are weary of wars, and brought down to ex¬ treme wretchednefs, then they creep a little, and fue for grace, ’till they have recovered their ftrength again. Spenjer. I love not to fee wretchednefs o’ercharg’d, And duty in his fervice perifhing. Shakefpeare. We have with the feeling loft the very memory of fuch wretchednefs. as our forefathers endured by thofe wars, of all others the moft cruel. Raleigh. 2. Pitifulnefs; defpicablenefs. WreTchless. n.f. [This is, by I know not whofe corrup¬ tion, written for recklefs.] Carelefs ; mindlefs ; heedlefs. For any man to put off his prefent repentance, on contem¬ plation of a poffibility that his latter repentance may ferve the turn, is the moft wretch}fs preemption, and hath no promife of mercy annexed to it. Hammond. If perfons- of fo circumfpeCt a piety have been thus over¬ taken, what fecurity can there be for our wretchlefs ofcitancy ? Government of the Tongue. To WRI'GGLE. v. n. [ppijan, Saxon ; ruggeleh, Dutch.] To move to and fro with Ihort motions. If Iheep or thy lamb fall a wrigling with tail. Go by and by fearch it, whiles help may prevail. Tujfer. The bufy importunities of thefe extenfional phantafms I look upon as contemptuoufly, as upon the quick ivrigglings up and down of pifmires. J'lore. The excellency of fawing is to keep kerf exadly in the line marked to be fawn, without wriggling on either fide. Moxon's Mech. Exer. To bed went the bridegroom and the bride: Was never fuch an ill-pair’d couple ty’d ; Reftlefs he tofs’d, and tumbled to and fro. And roll’d and wriggled farther off for woe. Dryden. How wildly will ambition fleer ! A vermin wriggling in th’ ufurper’s ear. Dryden. And both he and his fucceffors would often wriggle in their feats as long as the cufhion lafted. Swift. ToWri'ggle. v. a. To put in a quick reciprocating motion; to introduce by fhifting motion. Ralpho was mounted now, and gotten O’erthwart his beaft with aCtive vaulting. Wriggling his body to recover His feat, and caft his right leg over. Hudibras* A Aim thin-gutted fox made a hard ftiift to wriggle his body into a hen-rooft. L’EJirange. Wri'ggletail. k./ For wrigglingtail. See Wriggle. My ragged ronts all Ihiver and {hake; They wont in the wind, wagg their wriggletails, Peark as a peacoke, but nought it avails. Spenfer. Wright, n.f [ppihta, pyjvh-ca, Saxon.] A workman; an artificer ; a maker ; a manufacturer. It is impoffible duly to confider thefe things, without being rapt into admiration of the infinite wifdom of the Divine Architect, and contemning the arrogant pretences of the world and animal Wrights, and much more the productions of chance. Cheyne. The verb To write has the fame found with Wright, a work¬ man, right or equity, and rite or ceremony; but fpelled very differently. Watts’s Logick. To WRING, v a. preter. an'd part. paff. wringed and wrung. [ppinjan, Saxon.J 1. Totwift; to turn round with violence. 7'he prieft {hall wring oft' his head, and burn it on tbs’ 2ltar. h'tv. i. 15' 2. To force out of anybody by contortion. He thruft the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of it, a bowl full of water. TU<^‘pr\ ^* * 7'he dregs all the wicked ftiall wring out and drink. Pf. lxxv. The figure of a fturdy woman, done bv Michael Angelo, waftiing and winding of linen cloths; in which a Cl {he wrings out the water that made the fountain. Wotton. Apply$