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

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”

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

"The next decade will write the story of the next century."

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

One soldier who read Plato’s “Republic” asked: “What else did he write lately?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

“Or maybe it wasn’t hard to write but it was hard to get to,” she clarifies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

A century on, Riordan said being asked to write the follow-up to Milne's beloved tale was the privilege of her career.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

They study enemy troops from the relative safety of their homes and write down as much information as they can.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Xavier Martinez is a reporter covering the biotechnology industry for The Wall Street Journal in New York, where he writes about the companies racing to develop new medicines and the money behind them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The i writes that the project "would link new radar, command systems and interceptor missiles" into a single network.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Roman writes that the vinegar makes the soup taste “almost like a pickle.”

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

Though not a stylist, he writes with lucidity, generosity and wit; the common reader will enjoy the book quite as well as the scholar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

But he’s also disturbed by it; it mocks you, he writes.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

The VC industry writ large has made a huge push into companies contributing to the physical build-out of AI, as it becomes increasingly clear that sustaining AI’s fast growth will require significantly more infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Byrd and Roberts can still ask the First District Court of Appeal to review the denial of their Stand Your Ground motion before trial, through a petition for a writ of prohibition.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

The government injected billions into banks, insurance giant AIG and the automobile industry to prevent the collapse of individual companies that would have jeopardized the economy and the financial system writ large if they failed.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

It represents a leap in the evolution of Saar’s work — her smaller scale imaginings now writ large.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

“So that’s writ in stone. The rest in water.”

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

“Memory is a lever for better AI performance. AI models generate better results with more memory, run faster with more memory,” he wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

“No one is stronger than Helga G. Pataki,” one Reddit user wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

That might have been part of my personal resistance, that my relationship with the material was based on the people who wrote it, and I’m not big on nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

But last month, more than 800 businesses, including top UK chefs, wrote an open letter to the PM, saying there would be more pub and restaurant closures unless VAT was reduced.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

The efforts of Louisiana Congressman James Morrison, who wrote the 1951 bill in Joey’s favor, gain new life.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

In a deft bit of narrative maneuvering, Gerald’s voice breaking was written into the show; Jamil Walker Smith played the character for all five seasons and one movie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

It is the most honest sentence ever written about one.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

The band is staying true to the songs as they were written and performed without being exactly matchy-matchy on the things that don’t matter but being very certain to land the moments that do.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

Ahead of Baby Loss Awareness Week she has written and published a compassionate guide to help others, called The Silence Of TFMR.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

He’s written his name on a thick piece of masking tape, and right underneath it, in smaller print, he’s written, “Running for Dad.”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Here are five questions to ask a potential adviser: How are you compensated, and can you show me that in writing?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Near the end of the set, “Nina + Field of Cops” from “Heavy Metal” features Mr. Winter’s writing at its most Dylanesque.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Lyrically, “Rubber Soul” revealed a new level of sophistication and wit in the group’s writing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Archer sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, and often set the novels in his home town of Wellington, Somerset.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Theo finishes copying down the list, and I see he’s writing them in alphabetical order.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

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