▪ I. wrist
(rɪst)
Forms: α. 1– wrist, 5–6 wriste, 4–5 wryste, 5–6 wryst; 4 virste, 5 wirste, 5–6 wyrste, 9 dial. wurst. β. 4–7 wrest (5 wrost?), 5–6 wreste, 6 wreast (wrast, 8 dial. wraste), 9 Sc. reist.
[OE. wrist, = OFris. wrist, -wirst (in hand-, fôt-wirst), -werst (in fôt-werst), -riust (NFris. wrast, wrest), MLG. wrist (LG. wrist, wirst, rüst), MDu. wrist, MHG. rist m., riste f. (G. rist m., instep, wrist), ON. rist f., instep (Da., Sw. vrist, Norw. vrist, rist), prob. f. wrið-, weak grade of the stem of wr{iacu}ðan writhe v.]
1. a. Anat. That part of the human frame between the fore-arm and the metacarpus; the joint by which the hand is united to the fore-arm; the carpus, or radio-carpal joint, of primates.
Cf. arm-wrist (arm n.1 III), hand-wrist.
| α ? a 940 Laws Athelstan in Liebermann I. 386/1 Ᵹif hit anfeald tyhtle sy, dufe seo hand æfter þam stane oð þa wriste. c 1325 in Rel. Ant. II. 78 The virste, la coude de la mein. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1535 Non oþer forme bot a fust faylande þe wryste. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas ix. 2258 He heeld..Hand and fyngres aboue the coles briht, Til the ioyntes fallyng heer & yonder, From the wirste [v.rr. wrest, wrost, wristis] departid wer assonder. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 534 Wryst, or wyrste of an hande, fragus. 1530 Palsgr. 290 Wrist of ones hande, poignet. 1574 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. lxvii, Cassandra..they haled From Pallas house,..Her wrists fast bound. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 49 An eare as bigge as the wrist of a mans arme. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 204 The Doctor fairly twisted his wrists. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 515 ¶3 The fan can play without any force..but just of the wrist. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 37 A substance..as thick as one's wrist. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 211 The pulse in the wrist was scarcely to be felt. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 433 [Taking] her dear hands..about each little wrist. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 828 The wrist of the orang, gibbon, the tailed apes. |
| β 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 1769 Beues smot..is left hande be þe wrest. 14.. [see α]. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. (1811) 393 The whiche..had theyr ryght handes smyten of by the wrestes. 1548 Patten Exped. Scotl. K vj, Both his handes cut of by the wreasts. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 354 Fastening Cords to the wrests of mine arme. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 184 The axillary artery..passing by the wrest or place of the pulse. 1788 Vallancey Voc. Bargie in Trans. R. Irish Acad. II. 34 Wraste, the wrist. |
b. Without article.
| 1686 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 422, 3 Payres of black Buttons for wrist and neck. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xvi, I'll bracelet him with iron both on wrist and ankle. |
c. transf. That part of a garment, sleeve, or glove, which covers the wrist.
| 1803 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 10 Jan. (1941) I. 188 Worked all day—petticoats—Mrs. C.'s wrists. 1828 Lady's Mag. Aug. 446/1 The cuffs at the wrists of all gowns. 1873 Susan Coolidge What Katy did iii. 44 She..adjusted her veil and the wrists of her three-buttoned gloves. |
2. † a. The joint of the thigh or knee. (
Cf. OE. cnéow-wyrst.)
Obs.—1| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5850 Men wend his the [= thigh] bane had bryst; He had na harme in bane ne wrist. |
b. The ankle; the instep. Usu.
wrist of the foot. Now
dial.| c 1530 Hickscorner (c 1550) B ij, Frewyll. But can they go no more. Imag. O no man, the wrest is twyst so sore. 1547 in Leland Collectanea (1774) IV. 321 He..tyed himselfe..a little beneath the Wrist of the Foot. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 22 Thys vnguent must be applyed vppon..the wreste of the handes, the wreste of the foote [etc.]. 1612 Shelton Quix. (1620) II. 169 About the Wrists of her Legs..she wore two..Bracelets. 1615 Crooke Body of Man (1631) 1005 The Tarsus or wrest of the Foot. 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. ii. xxv. 152 The bone of the Foots wrist. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Reist, the instep. Upp[er] Clydes[dale]. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss. 799 Wrist-o'-the-foot, the ankle. |
3. Comp. Anat. A part or joint analogous or answering to the wrist in man:
a. The carpus or carpal joint in birds.
b. The knee or knee-joint in the fore-legs of animals.
c. Ichth. (See first
quot.)
| a. a 1843 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VII. 327 The Wrist of Birds consists of but two bones. |
| b. a 1843 Ibid. 315 The Wrist [in reptiles], carpus, consists of numerous small bones. 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 211 That [carpal bone] on the radial side of the wrist [in Crocodilia] is the largest. 1890 Mivart Dogs, Jackals, etc. 6 Vertically from the wrist up the front of the [wolf's] leg. |
| c. 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 308 [In] some spinous fishes the carpal bones are so elongated as to form a sort of arm or wrist, to the extremity of which the pectoral fin is articulated. Ibid., Fishes with Wrists to the Pectoral Fins. 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 176 The carpal bones of these fins..increasing in length from the ulnar to the radial side of the wrist. |
4. a. Mech. One of the partitions of the bucket of an overshot water-wheel. ?
Obs.| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 903/2 We have heard them named the Start or Shoulder, the Arm, and the Wrest (probably for wrist, on account of a resemblance of the whole line to the human arm). 1829 Nat. Philos., Mechanics v. 20 (L.U.K.), This bucket is formed of three planes;..BC is called the arm, and CH the wrist. |
b. A pin or stud, projecting from the side of a wheel, crank, etc., to which a connecting rod is attached; a wrist-pin.
| 1864 Webster. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1720/1 Pitman-box, the stirrup and brasses which embrace the wrist of the driving-wheel. 1884 Ibid. Suppl. 229/2 A wrist on a crank wheel. |
c. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1863 A. Young Naut. Dict. (ed. 2) 450 Wrist of an anchor, the continuation of the arm in a square or rounded form towards the palm or fluke. |
5. attrib., as
wrist connection,
wrist end,
wrist power;
freq. in sense ‘worn about or depending from the wrist’, as
wrist-bag,
wrist-bangle,
wrist-cord,
† wrist favour,
wrist-iron,
wrist-plaster, etc.; in the names of devices worn on the wrist, as
wrist compass,
wrist radio, etc.
| 1904 Daily Chron. 28 Jan. 6/5 The sums stolen out of the ‘*wrist-bag’ purses. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 432 Fiercely she slaps his haunch, her goldcurb *wristbangles angriling. |
| 1983 D. Hart-Davis Fire Falcon xxiii. 272 His only means of steering was his *wrist compass. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2822/2 A pin passing through the axis of a *wrist-connection. |
| 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. viii. 201 A well-known New Zealand weapon..is an edged club of bone or stone... Through the neck it has a hole for a *wrist-cord. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 521 The *wrist end of the ulna. |
| 1626 Middleton Anything for Quiet Life iii. i, A fine *wrist-favour of this gold. |
| 1871 Archaeologia XLIII. 426 Stone *Wrist-guards... Those [plates] of finely-grained green stone..appear to be intended to be worn on the wrist. |
| 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Sh. 83 We divides the sets of *wrist-irons. |
| 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Eye, Mix all these together..to a Consistence fit for a *Wrist-plaister. |
| 1897 Ranjitsinhji Cricket 165 Every player who has much *wrist-power. |
| 1972 Times 3 Nov. 33/3 It is a world first, it enables the memorable ‘*wrist radio’ label of the Dick Tracy strip cartoons to become reality. 1984 Listener 17 May 36/3 You have the Snoop-Mobile, a wrist-radio, a list of suspects and information about each of them. |
| 1901 Scribner's Mag. April 408/1 Big policemen, swinging their clubs by the *wrist-straps. |
| 1984 Tampa (Florida) Tribune 5 Apr. 6b/4 Cellular mobile radio telephone service..could be the forerunner of Dick Tracy-like *wrist telephones. |
| 1972 D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play x. 81 I'm going to grow up into a millionaire cowboy with a two-way *wrist-television and a formula car. |
b. In sense ‘of or pertaining to a wrist-band or sleeve-cuff’, as
wrist-button,
wrist-link,
wrist-stud.
| 1856 Lever Martins of Cro' M. xxx. 315 His wrist-buttons, his shirt-studs, the camelia in his coat. 1859 Habits of Good Society iii. 142 Elaborate studs..and wrist-links, are all abominable. 1865 Le Fanu Guy Dev. II. 38 Having buttoned his jewelled wrist-studs in. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2822/2 Wrist-link, a link with connected buttons for the wristband or cuff. |
c. In Cricket, etc., in the sense ‘effected or directed by means of wrist-work,’ as
wrist hit,
wrist-play (hence
wrist-player,
wrist-playing),
wrist shot,
wrist stroke.
| 1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 141 All that is required is, straight play and a free wrist... Without wrist play there can be no good style of batting. 1862 Pycroft Cricket Tutor 19 Throwing back the bat to the bails..necessitates good wrist-play. 1867 J. Lillywhite's Cricketer's Comp. 105 A. G. Lee, capital wrist player. 1888 Steel & Lyttelton Cricket 42 Players are not equally good both at the forward driving and the wrist-playing games. 1888 R. H. Lyttelton in Steel & Lyttelton Cricket ii. 61 The cut..requires a very strong use of the wrist, and, like all wrist strokes, charms the spectator by accomplishing great results at the expense of apparently little effort. 1895 Kipling Day's Work, Maltese Cat, Hughes made some sort of quick wrist-stroke [in polo]. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 16 April 2/1 The cut was not a wrist hit, but a vehement exhibition of energy. 1906 Ibid. 21 March 10/1 A wrist shot that was remarkable. |
d. Special
Combs., as
† wrist-bender, a muscle which bends or controls the wrist;
wrist-bone, any one of the small bones of the wrist; a carpal bone;
wrist clonus Path., spasmodic contraction of the muscles of the hand, produced by sudden backward pressure;
wrist-drop Path., an affection marked by inability to extend the hand and fingers, resulting from paralysis of the forearm extensor muscles; also
attrib.;
wrist-fall, a drooping ruff or band (
cf. fall n.1 23 c) formerly worn about the wrist;
wrist-guide (see
quots.);
wrist jerk Path., wrist clonus;
wrist-length a., (
a) (of a glove) reaching as far as the wrist; (
b) (see
quot. 1957);
wrist-pin Mech. = wrist 4 b; also
Comb.;
wrist-plate Mech., an oscillating plate bearing one or more crank-pins or wrists on its face (
Cent. Dict.);
wrist-slap slang, a mild rebuke; so
wrist-slapping;
wrist-spin Cricket, spin imparted to a ball by the wrist;
cf. finger-spin s.v. finger n. 15; so
wrist-spinner,
wrist-spinning vbl. n.;
wrist-watch, a small watch worn in a wristlet or strap around the wrist;
wrist-work, flexure of the wrist, as in batting;
wrist-wrestling, a contest of strength between two people, each trying to force the arm of the other person backwards (strictly by interlocking thumbs instead of gripping hands); arm-wrestling; so
wrist-wrestler.
| 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. Wks. 222 Both the Carpiflexores, or *Wrest-benders, arise from the..inner processe. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Wreast bone of the hand, or arme, brachiale. 1612 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. ix. 29 The brawne of the arme must appeare full, shadowed on one side, then shew the wrist bone therof. 1825 Scott Talism. ii, The wrist-bones peculiarly large and strong. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 42 Two little carpal bones, or wrist-bones. 1889 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 33/2 Odd cases of supernumerary wrist-bones. |
| 1888 Ibid. VI. 771/2 A *wrist clonus may be produced by a..forcible hyperextension of the wrist. |
| a 1841 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VII. 522 One of these consequences [of the use of lead] is..*wrist-drop. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 693 The two commonest varieties—the wrist-drop type and the upper arm type. |
| 1890 A. E. Barr Friend Olivia iii, The lace *wrist-falls and neck-bands. |
| 1861 J. S. Adams 5000 Mus. Terms 108 *Wrist Guide, that part of Logier's Chiroplast which guides the wrist. 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms 90 The wrist-guide, by which the position of the wrist was preserved [in piano-playing] from inclination outwards. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 700 The *wrist and elbow jerks. Ibid. VII. 191. |
| 1935 E. Farjeon Nursery in Nineties iv. iii. 172 Long evening gloves and *wrist-length, kid and suède gloves! 1957 M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 382/2 Wrist length, length of coat or other garment, taken with arms hanging at sides, which reaches to wrist. 1963 Guardian 1 Feb. 9/7 Jackets are either straight and short to the hips or straight to wrist-length. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2822 The *wrist-pin is a truncate, conical, tubular piece attached to the crank-wheel by a bolt. Ibid., Wrist-pin Turner, a machine for turning wrist-pins..or [for] the turning of journals. |
| 1977 M. Edelman Political Lang. viii. 148 Antitrust laws similarly sanction mergers and pricing agreements, with occasional token *wrist slaps to keep the symbolism pure. 1979 Time 13 Aug. 36/3 Critical as the investigators may have been of the utility, the NRC itself got a wrist slap from Congress. |
| 1958 Times 24 May 4/2 This unusual example of mass *wrist-slapping has been going on for a week. 1979 N. Slater Falcon viii. 141 There was no sherry decanter in evidence, no coffee... This was turning out to be a right old wrist-slapping session. |
| 1960 E. W. Swanton West Indies Revisited iii. 49 He is reputedly unhappy against *wrist-spin. 1977 New Society 3 Feb. 246/2 Raffles was a leg-break bowler: can wrist-spin ever be really kosher? |
| 1957 T. Bailey Cricket Bk. vi. 66/1 Bruce Dooland..clearly showed what destruction a top-class *wrist-spinner can achieve in Championship cricket. 1977 Listener 5 May 588/1 Garfield Sobers—finger-spinner, wrist-spinner, seam-bowler. |
| 1963 T. E. Bailey Improve your Cricket i. 31 Slow bowlers [from overseas] are more frequently of the *wrist-spinning variety. |
| 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign iv, Field-glasses, *wrist-watch, buckles, and buttons should be dulled. |
| 1898 Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team vii. 103 His cutting was hard and full of *wrist work. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 3 June 3/2 There was any amount of wrist-work in his cutting. |
| 1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. 1a/1 My uncle Gerald is a pretty good *wrist wrestler. |
| 1973 N.Y. Times 29 July x. 4/5 *Wrist wrestling, also known as arm wrestling, has its real roots in Petaluma, Calif., where the world championship matches have been televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports for the past four years. 1978 Maclean's Mag. 12 June 62 It seems perfectly natural for a wristwrestling championship to be held in Timmins. |
▪ II. wrist see
wrest n. and v.