wreath

n.; pl. Wreaths [ OE. wrethe, AS. wr&aemacr_;ð a twisted band, fr. wrīðan to twist. See Writhe. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Something twisted, intertwined, or curled; as, a wreath of smoke; a wreath of flowers. “A wrethe of gold.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ He ] of his tortuous train
Curled many a wanton wreath. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A garland; a chaplet, esp. one given to a victor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conquest doth grant
He dear wreath to the Grecian combatant. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Far back in the ages,
The plow with wreaths was crowned. Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest (see Illust. of Crest). It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 from so heavy sight his head did wreathe. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To twist; to convolve; to wind one about another; to entwine. [ 1913 Webster ]

The nods and smiles of recognition into which this singular physiognomy was wreathed. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

From his slack hand the garland wreathed for Eve
Down dropped. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To surround with anything twisted or convolved; to encircle; to infold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Each wreathed in the other's arms. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dusk faces with withe silken turbants wreathed. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

And with thy winding ivy wreathes her lance. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To twine or twist about; to surround; to encircle. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the flowers that wreathe the sparkling bowl,
Fell adders hiss. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be intewoven or entwined; to twine together; as, a bower of wreathing trees. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Twisted; made into a wreath. “Wreathen work of pure gold.” Ex. xxviii. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destitute of a wreath. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A marine shell of the genus Turbo. See Turbo. [ 1913 Webster ]