write

verb (past wrote /rəʊt/; past participle written /ˈrɪt(ə)n/)

• 1mark (letters, words, or other symbols) on a surface, typically paper, with a pen, pencil, or similar implement:he wrote his name on the paper Alice wrote down the address [no object]:he wrote very neatly in blue ink
• [no object] have the ability to mark coherent letters or words in this way:he couldn’t read or write
• fill out or complete (a sheet, cheque, or similar) in this way:he had to write a cheque for £800
• Canadian & South African take (an exam or test):I wrote Prof. Weldon’s Middle English exam last week
• [no object] write in a cursive hand, as opposed to printing individual letters.

• 2compose, write, and send (a letter) to someone:I wrote a letter to Alison [with two objects]:I wrote him a short letter [no object]:he wrote almost every day Eleanor wrote to her sister Laura in Paris
• chiefly North American write and send a letter to:Mother wrote me and told me about poor Simon’s death
• [no object] (write in) write to an organization, newspaper, etc. with a question, suggestion, or opinion:write in with your query

• 3compose (a text or work) for written or printed reproduction or publication; put into literary form and set down in writing: she wrote a bestselling novel I didn’t know you wrote poetry [no object]:he wrote under a pseudonym he had written about the beauty of Andalusia
• compose (a musical work):he has written a song specifically for her
• (write someone into/out of) add or remove a character to or from (a long-running story or series).
• archaic describe in writing:if I could write the beauty of your eyes

• 4 [with object and adverbial] Computing enter (data) into a specified storage medium or location in store: files can be read and written directly into the file system

• 5underwrite (an insurance policy).