wreath

noun

1. Something twisted, intertwined, or curled.

   “a wreath of smoke    a wreath of clouds”

   “The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.”

2. An ornamental circular band made, for example, of plaited flowers and leaves, and used as decoration; a garland or chaplet, especially one given to a victor.

   “So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all.”

3. A defect in glass.
4. An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest; an orle, a torse. It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the coat of arms.

verb

1. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of wreathe.

   “Sale) or Salovv a kind of vvoodde like VVyllovv, fit to vvreath and bynde in leapes to catch fiſh vvithall.”

   “[T]o wreſt the will of man, or to wreath his hearte to our humours, it is not in the compaſſe of Arte, but in the power of the moſt higheſt.”

   “[F]or griefe his hart did grate, / And from ſo heauie ſight his head did vvreath, / Accuſing fortune, and too cruell fate, / VVhich plonged had faire Lady in ſo vvretched ſtate.”

   “[Y]ou haue learn'd (like Sir Protheus) to vvreath your Armes like a Male-content: […]”

   “The bitings of lyons and ſuch like beaſtes are ſo dangerous, in regard of their ſtrength and fierceneſſe, for they doe not onely bite, but alſo vvreath and teare the vvounds vvhich they make vvith their teeth, or nailes: […]”