write

American  

[rahyt] / raɪt /

verb (used with object)

• writes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wrote,
  past
• writ,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• written,
  past participle
• writing
  present participle

1. to trace or form (characters, letters, words, etc.) on the surface of some material, as with a pen, pencil, or other instrument or means; inscribe.

   Write your name on the board.

2. to express or communicate in writing; give a written account of.

   She wrote to thank us for the hospitality.

3. to fill in the blank spaces of (a printed form) with writing.

   to write a check.

4. to execute or produce by setting down words, figures, etc..

   to write two copies of a letter.

5. to compose and produce in words or characters duly set down.

   to write a letter to a friend.

6. to produce as author or composer.

   to write a sonnet;

   to write a symphony.

   Synonyms:

   create, draft, author, pen, compose

7. to trace significant characters on, or mark or cover with writing.

8. to cause to be apparent or unmistakable.

   Honesty is written on his face.

9. Computers. to transfer (information, data, programs, etc.) from storage to secondary storage or an output medium.

10. Stock Exchange. to sell (options).

11. to underwrite.

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verb (used without object)

• writes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wrote,
  past
• writ,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• written,
  past participle
• writing
  present participle

1. to trace or form characters, words, etc., with a pen, pencil, or other instrument or means, or as a pen or the like does.

   He writes with a pen.

2. to write as a profession or occupation.

   She writes for the Daily Inquirer.

3. to express ideas in writing.

   He wrote about his trip to Borneo.

4. to write a letter or letters, or communicate by letter.

   Write if you get work.

5. to compose or work as a writer or author.

6. Computers. to transfer into a secondary storage device or output medium.

verb phrase

1. write up

   1. to put into writing, especially in full detail.

      My boss asked me to write up a report for the meeting on Monday, so I cancelled my plans and worked on it all weekend.

   2. to present to public notice in a written description or account.

   3. to document a violation, complaint, or charge against, especially in a recommendation for disciplinary action.

      Is it true that you were written up by your French teacher because you set a classroom dictionary on fire?

   4. Accounting. to make an excessive valuation of (an asset).

2. write off

   1. to cancel an entry in an account, as an unpaid and uncollectable debt.

   2. to regard as worthless, lost, obsolete, etc.; decide to forget.

      to write off their bad experience.

   3. to amortize.

      The new equipment was written off in three years.

3. write down

   1. to set down in writing; record; note.

   2. to direct one's writing to a less intelligent reader or audience.

      He writes down to the public.

4. write in

   1. to vote for (a candidate not listed on the ballot) by writing a full name rather than selecting an option on the ballot.

   2. to include in or add to a text by writing.

      Do not write in corrections on the galley.

   3. to request something by mail.

      If interested, please write in for details.

5. write out

   1. to put into writing.

   2. to write in full form; state completely.

   3. to exhaust the capacity or resources of by excessive writing.

      He's just another author who has written himself out.

write British  

/ raɪt /

verb

1. to draw or mark (symbols, words, etc) on a surface, usually paper, with a pen, pencil, or other instrument

2. to describe or record (ideas, experiences, etc) in writing

3. to compose (a letter) to or correspond regularly with (a person, organization, etc)

4. (tr; may take a clause as object) to say or communicate by letter

   he wrote that he was on his way

5. informal (tr) to send a letter to (a person, etc)

6. to write (words) in cursive as opposed to printed style

7. (tr) to be sufficiently familiar with (a specified style, language, etc) to use it in writing

8. to be the author or composer of (books, music, etc)

9. (tr) to fill in the details for (a document, form, etc)

10. (tr) to draw up or draft

11. (tr) to produce by writing

    he wrote ten pages

12. (tr) to show clearly

    envy was written all over his face

13. (tr) to spell, inscribe, or entitle

14. (tr) to ordain or prophesy

    it is written

15. (tr) to sit (an examination)

16. (intr) to produce writing as specified

17. computing to record (data) in a location in a storage device Compare read 1

18. (tr) Compare underwrite

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write Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing write

• nothing to write home about
• wrote

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• miswrite
  verb (used with object)
• writable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• writing
  present
• writ
  past
• written
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• write
  simple
• writes
  simple
• have writ
  perfect
• have written
  perfect
• has writ
  perfect
• has written
  perfect
• am writing
  progressive
• are writing
  progressive
• is writing
  progressive
• have been writing
  perfect progressive
• has been writing
  perfect progressive

Past

• writ
  simple
• wrote
  simple
• had writ
  perfect
• had written
  perfect
• was writing
  progressive
• were writing
  progressive
• had been writing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will write
  simple
• will have writ
  perfect
• will have written
  perfect
• will be writing
  progressive
• will have been writing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of write

First recorded before 900; Middle English writen, Old English wrītan; cognate with Old Saxon wrītan “to cut, write,” German reissen “to tear, draw,” Old Norse rīta “to score, write”

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Explanation

To write is to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. If you have trouble falling asleep, write down all the thoughts swimming around your head before getting into bed as a way to clear your mind. Write is the modern day spelling of the Old English writan, meaning “to score, outline, draw the figure of.” Now it has the sense of “to set down in writing.” You can write music, a short story, or computer code. You can write a letter, or write in cursive. You can write up an account of a burglary, or write down your feelings in a journal. Write on!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

write writes writ wrote written writing

Even after monster hits like “Obsession,” though, Simonetti is worried about the studio system won’t take chances on experimental young composers, leaving them without the opportunity to write their own ageless horror themes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

I also write and talk about mental health, and I’ve helped coach a number of people—friends of friends, mothers of friends, even near-strangers—through their own ECT journeys.

From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2026

And last week the government introduced a bill to write its ban on new exploration licences into law.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026

Investors will focus on the net cost message and the revenue outlook, the analysts write.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

“Well, you don’t have to write an essay,” Luna says.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

It’s a perk that both parties benefit from, writes Aarthi Swaminathan.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

The yen weakening toward 160 inevitably revives intervention talk, but markets may be underestimating Tokyo’s tool kit, the chief fixed-income strategist writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

America’s beef industry is undergoing a painful downsizing, and it’s poised to make high meat prices a long-term reality, the WSJ’s Patrick Thomas writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

Instead of replacing workers, AI might “commodify” them, Berkeley professor Jon Steinsson writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

Mr. Johnson owns the Aurora County News, and he always writes the obituaries himself.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

That trend, he said, is one of the biggest future growth drivers for the baby-care space writ large, and it’s already taking shape worldwide.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

The writ, which requires a person detained by authorities be brought before a court so the legality of the detention may be examined, resulted in it being agreed their detention was unlawful.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Human rights lawyer Karen Todner was instrumental in securing Leroy's release as he was one of four prisoners she submitted an application for the writ of Habeas Corpus for.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Even if successful, the lawsuit wouldn’t invalidate the tax writ large; instead, it seeks to block the city from taking any further actions on the tax warning notices it already sent out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

They take the view that science is, in essence, common sense applied systematically, or, as Karl Popper put it, ‘common-sense knowledge writ large, as it were’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Many had gone into those fields because they could be sure of a good job, Klaw wrote for Harper’s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026

In her book, Diana wrote that she believes that Chad would have died sooner if Truman had not intervened.

From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2026

Stacy Rasgon, senior analyst in US semiconductors at Bernstein Research, wrote in a note to investors that "our gut tells us we probably haven't fully probed the depths of what might be found here".

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026

“Scaling the Gemini agent to planet scale requires compute that spins up rapidly and operates with extreme efficiency,” Google vice president Gautham Thambidorai wrote in an October blog post.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

He wrote an article, “An Hour with the Spirits,” and positioned it on page one of the next day’s New-York Tribune.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The union pointed to a motion written by Councilmember Heather Hutt and Councilmember Park in May, which sought to explore giving firefighters extra pension credit for mandatory overtime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026

As I have written previously, this is a contest between competing clocks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

Those words were written by Gunner Willie Webber to his wife Gladys from the battlefields of World War One.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

Since my remission, I’ve returned to my day job in journalism, written a book, gotten married, and attained various other conventional markers of well-being.

From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2026

I ended up tapping the luggage tag affixed to my traveling valise, where Edda Grace St. James was written in my best penmanship.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Though AI remains a polarizing topic in Hollywood, driven by serious concerns about job displacement, it has become an undeniable presence in modern writing and filmmaking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

Washington lost a month of prices and will spend November writing fan fiction about what was in it.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2026

Regulators in Florida and Virginia took steps in October to bar Atlantic Coast Life from writing new policies in their states.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

The group is writing a play involving a jilted bride on her wedding day, alongside a household of well-meaning but chaotic characters.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

She was more intent on writing in that journal of hers than talking to me, her own sister.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

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Related Words

• address
• compose
• create
• draft
• note
• pen
• print
• record
• rewrite
• scrawl
• scribble
• sign
• tell

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