wrist drop (ristdrop)

Inability to extend the hand, owing to paralysis of the extensor muscles in the forearm. It is commonly a ociated with lead-poisoning. Also called drop wrist. The case of chronic lead poisoning, with its accompanying wrist - drop , caused by the paralysis of the extensors. Amer. Anthropologist , I. 68. wrister (ris'ter), n. A covering for the wrist; a wristlet. [Local, U. S.] A neighbor, come to tea, was crocheting wristers for her guardian. The Century, XXVI. 624. wrist fall (rist'fal), n. A deep ruffle of various materials, usually lace, falling from a wrist 1. That which is written; a writing: used especially of the Bible, with holy or sacred, often capitalized as a title. Wherfore the i conne meche of Holy Wrytt, but the i undirstonde it not but aftre the Lettre. Mandeville, Travels, p. 136. O cursed Eld! the cankerworme of writs, How may these rimes, so rude as doth appeare, Hope to endure? Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 83. This city [Cæsarea) is remarkable in sacred writ upon several accounts. Pococke , Description of the East, II. 160 2. In law , a precept under seal, in the name of the people, or the sovereign, or other competent legal authority, commanding the officer or other person to whom it is addre ed or i ued to do or refrain from doing some specified act. In early times, when the pleadings and proceedings generally in actions were oral, writs were, as the name implies, the written parts of an action (besides judgments in courts of record), it being for obvious reasons required that the warrant by which a person or his property might be seized, or his conduct controlled under penalty of contempt, should be expre ed in writing and attested by the name and seal of the government. 3. A formal instrument or writing of any kind. I.. Folded the writ up in form of the other. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 51. Barons by writ. See bar on, 1. - Close writs. See close2. Indorsed writ. See indorse. - Judicial writ, a writ i ued by the court, as distinguished from an original writ. Optional writ. See optional.- Original writ. (a) The writ formerly required to be i ued from Chancery, under the seal of the sovereign, before the commencement of an action in a court of common law: so called to distinguish it from judicial writs, or writs i ued by the court in which the action was thus brought, in the course of prosecuting the action. (b) In the United States, a mandatory precept i uing out of the clerk's office in any of the courts of law, by the authority and in the name of the State or commonwealth, under the seal of the court from which it i ues, bearing teste of the chief justice of the court, if he is not a party, and signed by the clerk of the court. (Heard.) Its object is to compel the appearance of the defendant, or at least to give him due notice that he is sued. In most of the States it has been superseded by a summons i ued by the plaintiff's attorney, giving such notice and requiring the defendant to plead. See also original urit, under original.-Peremptory, Præmunientes, pre IMG:content-2610.png:[blocks in formation] 5. To designate by writing; style or entitle in writing; record: with an objective word or phrase. Shak., Much Ado, iv. 2. 78. They belonged to the armigerous part of the popula- lati on, and were entitled "to write themselves Esquire." De Quincey, Bentley, i. 6. To record; set down legibly; engrave. There is written in your brow honesty and con- stancy. Shak., M. for M., iv. 2. 162. The history of New England is written imperishably on the face of a continent. Lowell , Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 228. To write down. (a) To set down in writing; make a record or memorandum of. writ ability (ri-ta-bil'i-ti), n. [ writable + -ity (6) To write in depreciation of; injure by writing against: (see -bility ).] Ability or disposition to write. [Nonce-word.] writable (ri'ta-bl), a. [ write + -able .] Ca- pable of being written; such as might be set down in writing. [Rare.] The talk was by no means writable , but very pleasant. Mme. D'Arblay , Diary, II. 168. ( Davies .) writative (ri'ta-tiv), a . [Irreg. (after talkative ) -ative .) Disposed or inclined to write; given to writing. [Nonce-word.] Increase of years makes men more talkative, but le Pope , To Swift, Aug. 17, 1736. To write off, to cancel by an entry on the opposite side of the account or bill: as, to write off discounts; to write off bad debts. To write out. (a) To make a copy or tran- script i on of; especially, to make a perfect copy of, after a rough draft; record in full: as, when the document is writ- ten out you may send it off. (b) To exhaust the capacity or resources of by exce ive writing: used reflexively: as, that author has written himself out. - To write up. (a) To bring up to date or to the latest fact or transaction in writing; write out in full or in detail: as, to write up an account or an account-book; to write up a fire or a cele- bration for a newspaper. (b) To attempt to elevate in estimation or credit by favorable writing; commend to the public; puff: as, to write up a new play or a candi- date.-Written law. See law1 . practise the art of writing; engage in the for- mation of written words or characters, either occasionally or as an occupation: as, to write in school; to write as a lawyer's clerk. 2. To expre ideas in writing; practise written composition; work as an author, or engage in authorship. When I wrate of these deuices, I smiled with my selfe, thinking that the readers would do so to. Like Egyptian Chroniclers, Who write of twenty you sand Years. Cowley, Pindaric Odes, xii. 2. Hero dot us, though he wrote in a dramatic form, had little of dramatic genius. Macaulay , History. to write one's name with the finger in sand. Aboven, in the Dust and in the Powder of tho Hilles, the i wroot Lettres and Figures with hire Fingres. Mandeville , Travels, p. 17. whose names are not written in the book of Rev. xvii. 8. The Greek metropolitan has a very fine manuscript of the Pent a teuch, supposed to have been wrote about the year eight hundred. Pococke , Description of the East, II. ii. 38. By seraphs writ with beams of Heavenly light. Cowper , Sonnet to Mrs. Unwin. 2. To cover with writing; trace readable char- acters over the surface of. information by letter or the like: as, to write to a distant friend; write as soon as you arrive. I go. Write to me very shortly. Shak., Rich. III., iv. 4. 428. write (rit), n. [ hand of write. [Colloq. or vulgar.] We trust you will call back yourself from errors and heresies advisedly which you have maintained rashly, and set forth by word and write busily. Harding to Jewell , in Bp. Jewell's Works (Parker Soc. ed.), [II. 804. It was a short, but a well-written letter, in a fair hand of write. Galt , Annals of the Parish, i. ( Davies .) used specifically in England of clerks to the former East India Company, and of temporary copying clerks in government offices; in Scot- land, loosely, of law agents, solicitors, att or- neys, etc., and sometimes of their principal clerks.-3. A person who writes what he com- poses in his mind; the author of a written paper or of writings; an author in general; a literary producer of any kind: as, the writer of a letter; a writer of history or of fiction. Tell prose writers stories are so stale That penny ballads make a better sale. writhe (riTH), v.; pret. and. pp. writhed , ppr. writhing. [ writhen , wrythen (pret. wroth , wrooth, wræth, pl. writhen , pp. writhen (with short i), wrethen ), writhan (pret. wrath, pp. writhen ), twist, wind about, = OHG. rid an , MHG. riden , G. dial. wrideln , twist together, = Icel. ritha = Sw. vrida = Dan. vride , wring, twist, turn, wrest. Hence ult. wreath , wrest, wrist .] I. trans. 1. To turn and twist about; twist out of shape or position; wrench; con- tort. The stortes [grape-stalks] softe in handes wol thai take And writhe hem, and so writhen wol thai lete Hem honge and drie awhile in sonnes hete. writee (rī-te'), n. [ There will she sit in her smock till she have writ a sheet of paper. Shak., Much Ado, ii. 3. 138. 3. To expre or communicate in writing; give a written account of; make a record of, as something known, thought, or believed: as, to write one's observations; he wrote down all he could remember. Sometimes, in this and the next sense, the verb is followed by a dative without its sign: as, write me all the news. Thanne sit he down and writ in his dotage That wommen kan nat kepe hir mariage. All your better deeds Shall be in water writ , but this in marble. Beau . and Fl ., Phil aster, v. 3. The poplar writhes and twists and whistles in the blast. Irving , Knickerbocker, p. 185. writer (rī'ter), n. [ ritari ); as write + -er1.] 1. A per- son who understands or practises the art of writing; one who is able to write; a penman. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary writhel