WRITE (written, wrote)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does write mean? 

• WRITE (verb)
  The verb WRITE has 8 senses:

1. produce a literary work

2. communicate or express by writing

3. communicate (with) in writing

4. write music

5. mark or trace on a surface

6. record data on a computer

7. write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word)

8. create code, write a computer program

  Familiarity information: WRITE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WRITE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Produce a literary work

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

compose; indite; pen; write

Context example:

He wrote four novels

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

create verbally (create with or from words)

"Write" entails doing...:

spell; write (write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word))

Domain category:

authorship; composition; penning; writing (the act of creating written works)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "write"):

lyric (write lyrics for (a song))

script (write a script for)

write out; write up (put into writing; write in complete form)

cite; reference (refer to)

annotate; footnote (add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments)

author (be the author of)

poetise; poetize; verse; versify (compose verses or put into verse)

draft; outline (draw up an outline or sketch for something)

adopt; dramatise; dramatize (put into dramatic form)

rewrite (rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose)

dash off; fling off; knock off; scratch off; toss off (write quickly)

write off (write something fluently, and without hesitation)

paragraph (write about in a paragraph)

paragraph (write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher)

profile (write about)

write about; write of; write on (write about a particular topic)

draw (write a legal document or paper)

write copy (write for commercial publications)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue write the movie

Also:

write out (put into writing; write in complete form)

Derivation:

writer (writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay))

writing (the act of creating written works)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Communicate or express by writing

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He wrote about his great love for his wife

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)

Verb group:

drop a line; write (communicate (with) in writing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "write"):

style (make consistent with certain rules of style)

write in (write to an organization)

write up (bring to public notice by writing, with praise or condemnation)

cut; issue; make out; write out (make out and issue)

get down; put down; set down; write down (put down in writing; of texts, musical compositions, etc.)

scrabble; scribble (write down quickly without much attention to detail)

jot; jot down (write briefly or hurriedly; write a short note of)

handwrite (write by hand)

type; typewrite (write by means of a keyboard with types)

sign; subscribe (mark with one's signature; write one's name (on))

rewrite (write differently; alter the writing of)

apostrophise; apostrophize (use an apostrophe)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

They write them the information
They write the information to them

Derivation:

writer (a person who is able to write and has written something)

writing (the activity of putting something in written form)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Communicate (with) in writing

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

drop a line; write

Context example:

Write her soon, please!

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

correspond (exchange messages)

Verb group:

write (communicate or express by writing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s to somebody

Derivation:

writer (a person who is able to write and has written something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Write music

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

compose; write

Context example:

Beethoven composed nine symphonies

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "write"):

counterpoint (write in counterpoint)

set to music (write (music) for (a text))

arrange; set (adapt for performance in a different way)

score (write a musical score for)

melodise; melodize (supply a melody for)

harmonise; harmonize (write a harmony for)

instrument; instrumentate (write an instrumental score for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he write his major works over a short period of time?

Sense 5

Meaning:

Mark or trace on a surface

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

Russian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

delineate; describe; draw; line; trace (make a mark or lines on a surface)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "write"):

superscribe (write on the outside or upper part of)

impress; print (reproduce by printing)

copy (copy down as is)

scrawl; scribble (write carelessly)

print (write as if with print; not cursive)

letter (mark letters on or mark with letters)

capitalise; capitalize (write in capital letters)

superscribe (write on the top or outside)

cross (trace a line through or across)

calligraph (write beautifully and ornamentally)

stenograph (write in shorthand)

dot (make a dot or dots)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

writer (a person who is able to write and has written something)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Record data on a computer

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

save; write

Context example:

boot-up instructions are written on the hard disk

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

record; tape (register electronically)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "write"):

overwrite (write new data on top of existing data and thus erase the previously existing data)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word)

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

spell; write

Context example:

He spelled the word wrong in this letter

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "write"):

spell out (spell fully and without abbreviating)

hyphen; hyphenate (divide or connect with a hyphen)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Create code, write a computer program

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

She writes code faster than anybody else

Hypernyms (to "write" is one way to...):

create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

You saw maybe a man writing a letter. You saw something without beginning or end. Nothing happened. Yet it was a bit of life you saw. You remember it afterward.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

My dear sir, cried Holmes, there cannot be the least doubt in the world that it has been written by two persons doing alternate words.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yes, except as to his writing her such short letters.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I will write again as the occasion serves.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I thought I knew the writing. Anything private, Mr. Utterson?”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Very pretty wrote, to be sure; like print, I swear.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“I think my left side is going,” Wolf Larsen wrote, the morning after his attempt to fire the ship.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I'll write to you about him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Lately, there’s been an enormous focus on your written and spoken words, so you must have been working hard at your computer getting your work ready to be shown.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)