Wry"neck (?), n. Med.
1.
A twisted or distorted neck; a deformity in which the neck is drawn to one side by a rigid contraction of one of the muscles of the neck; torticollis.
2. Zool.
Any one of several species of Old World birds of the genus Jynx, allied to the woodpeckers; especially, the common European species (J. torguilla); -- so called from its habit of turning the neck around in different directions. Called also cuckoo's mate, snakebird, summer bird, tonguebird, and writheneck.
© Webster 1913.