ˈwraxle, v. Obs. exc. s.w. dial.
Forms: 1 wraxlian, 3–4 wraxli, 4–5, 9 dial. wraxle (5 wracsle, wraskle, 9 dial. wroxle, roxle).
[OE. wraxlian = OFris. wraxlia (WFris. wrakselje, wrokselje). The orig. form of the stem may have been wrasc-; cf. OE. wrǽstlian wrestle v.]
intr. To wrestle; to contend, strive. Also fig.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxxii. 24 Ða wraxlode an engel wið hyne on meriᵹen. c 1000 ― Saint's Lives xxiii. 578 Ic wæs..on unmætum costnungum winnende and wraxliᵹende. c 1275 Lay. 1858 Brutus hine lette witie..fort lete fondien of his main stronge, to wraxli to vore Brutus. Ibid. 24699 Somme þar wraxlede and wiþer-game makede. c 1305 St. Swithin in E.E.P. (1862) 45 Þe baldelikere hi miȝte Huppe ouer diches wher hi wolde, boþe wraxli and fiȝte. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvii. 67 Yf wratthe wraxle with þe poure he hath þe worsse ende. Ibid. 80 Þaugh couetyce wolde with þe poure wraxle þei mai nat come to-gederis. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 593 Luctor, to wraxle. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 217 [Though he] wriggled, and pawed, and wraxled, and twined. 1851, 1886 in Devon and Isle of Wight glossaries. 1854 N. & Q. 16 Dec. 479 (Cornish dialect), Wroxle,..to wrestle. |
Hence ˈwraxling vbl. n. (also attrib.) and ppl. a.
| c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 150 Luctatio, wraxlung. c 1275 Lay. 1871 Þar was mochel folk at þare wraxlinge. 1746 Exmoor Scolding Gloss., Wraxling, wrestling. 1837 [Mrs. Palmer] Dial. Devon. Dialect 9 Wot'n go..to rail and zee the wraxlin? 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxx, I'll..buy me a pair of horn-tips to my shoes, like a wraxling-man. 1867 Rock Jim an' Nell cxxi. (E.D.S.), Jan's wraxling ginged tha wildego. 1892 S. Hewett Peasant Speech Devon 150 A wraxling match between Joe Gooding and Dick Gollop. |