Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wryneck \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. (Zo["o]l.) 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}.