/ raɪt; NAmE / verb
( wrote / rəʊt; NAmE / writ·ten / ˈrɪtn; NAmE /)
LETTERS / NUMBERS
1.
write (in / on / with sth) to make letters or numbers on a surface, especially using a pen or a pencil :
[ v ]
In some countries children don't start learning to read and write until they are six.
Please write in pen on both sides of the paper.
I haven't got anything to write with.
[ vn ]
Write your name at the top of the paper.
The teacher wrote the answers on the board.
The 'b' had been wrongly written as a 'd'.
BOOK / MUSIC / PROGRAM
2.
write (sth) (about / on sth) to produce sth in written form so that people can read, perform or use it, etc. :
[ vn ]
to write a novel / a song / an essay / a computer program, etc.
He hopes to write a book about his experiences one day.
She had to write a report on the project.
Who was 'London Fields' written by?
Which opera did Verdi write first?
[ v ]
I wanted to travel and then write about it.
He writes for the 'New Yorker' (= works as a writer) .
No decision has been made at the time of writing .
[ vnn ]
She wrote him several poems.
A LETTER
3.
write (sth) (to sb) to put information, a message of good wishes, etc. in a letter and send it to sb :
[ v ]
Bye! Don't forget to write.
She wrote to him in France.
Can you write and confirm your booking?
I'm writing to enquire about language courses.
[ vn , vnn ]
I wrote a letter to the Publicity Department.
I wrote the Publicity Department a letter.
[ v that ]
She wrote that they were all fine.
[ vn ] ( NAmE )
Write me while you're away.
[ vn that ] ( NAmE )
He wrote me that he would be arriving Monday.
[ v -ing ]
They wrote thanking us for the present.
STATE IN WRITING
4.
to state the information or the words mentioned :
[ v that ]
In his latest book he writes that the theory has since been disproved.
[ v ]
Ancient historians wrote of a lost continent beneath the ocean.
[also v speech ]
CHEQUE / FORM
5.
write sth (out) to put information in the appropriate places on a cheque or other form :
[ vn ]
to write out a cheque
[ vnn ]
I'll write you a receipt.
COMPUTING
6.
write (sth) to / onto sth to record data in the memory of a computer :
[ vn ]
An error was reported when he tried to write data to the file for the first time.
[also v ]
OF PEN / PENCIL
7.
[ v ] to work correctly or in the way mentioned :
This pen won't write.
•
IDIOMS
- be written all over sb's face
- have sth/sb written all over it / sb
- nothing (much) to write home about
- that's all she wrote
—more at worth adjective
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- write away
- write back (to sb)
- write sth down
- write in (to sb/sth) (for sth)
- write sb/sth in
- write sth into sth
- write off / away (to sb/sth) (for sth)
- write sth off
- write sb/sth off (as sth)
- write sth out
- write sb out (of sth)
- write sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English wrītan score, form (letters) by carving, write , of Germanic origin; related to German reissen sketch, drag.