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to write

to write

926 1.0
Send a letter or message to someone
  • verb
  • /raɪt/
translation icon : escribir a
  • Won't you just write her a little note, sir?
  • write a letter
  • write to a friend
  • write to your mother

So he ends up writing to the fascists for help.

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Examples

Synonyms

to contact
vsto write
2.5

To communicate with someone by phone or writing

is specifically about communicating by written messages rather than by phone
to mail
vsto write
247 1.0

To send letters and packages by the postal service

is about communicating via written messages rather than sending physical items
to message
vsto write
  • Texting
26 2.3

To send someone a short note by email, text, or chat

focuses on contacting by written letters as well as electronic options
to correspond
vsto write
18 3.7

Write letters or messages to someone regularly over time

is about a single act of contacting rather than ongoing exchange
to drop a line
vsto write
9 3.2

To send a short message to keep in touch

is used to contact someone in any written form not only short notes
to txt
vsto write
  • Texting
6.2

To send a short written message to someone's phone

covers contacting by writing more generally not only short electronic notes

Idioms

To be the leading expert on a subject

5 7.7

To be able to choose your own job or future because you are successful

1 7.3

To be good or special enough to tell people at home about

To promise something you cannot do

Make stories or poems and keep them private, not share them

Phrasal Verbs

620 2.1

Give details in words about a topic, for example in a book or article

214 1.1

Put information on paper to help you remember it later

54 4.2

Send a message to a radio show to say what you think

38 3.5

Put information into a complete report

34 3.6

To produce texts like articles or books about a subject

to write off
  • Specialized
27 4.8

To cancel a debt or reduce an asset's value in accounts

25 2.4

Put all the details on a form or paper

23 4.8

To accept that something cannot be fixed or is not worth more attention

to write up
  • Literature
14 4.3

Make a report about someone that appears in news or an official file

8 6.3

Add the name of a person not on the ballot as your vote

to write itself
  • Informal
8 5.2

To develop easily and naturally without much effort

to write off
  • Informal
3 4.1

To put words down quickly without much thought

to write copy
  • Jargon
2 4.4

To make short text for ads and marketing

Compounds

write-up
  • Literature
21 3.9

A short article that describes an event, often in a newspaper or magazine

18 7.0

A vote for a person whose name the voter adds to the ballot

write-off
  • Specialized
17 5.7

Removing the value of a debt or asset from accounts when it cannot be paid

6 3.8

An amount you can subtract from your income to reduce the tax you pay

A person not on the ballot who people choose by writing their name

write-down
  • Specialized
4 6.4

A reduction in the value of something a company owns to show it is now worth less

6.5

A CD you can record on once and then only read

How Formal

to correspond
18 3.7
to write
926 1.0
to text
  • Texting
296 2.6

Surface Forms

write infinitive
writing present participle
writes third person singular
wrote past
written past participle

Etymology

Write comes from an old English word writan meaning 'to scratch' or 'to draw lines'. Because people used to write messages by hand and send them, write also came to mean 'contact someone by letter' or send a written message.