[de.form] vb [ME, fr. OF or L; OF deformer, fr. L deformare, fr. de- + formare to form, fr. forma form] vt (15c) 1: to spoil the form of
2. a: to spoil the looks of: disfigure "a face ~ed by bitterness" b: to mar the character of "a marriage ~ed by jealousy"
3: to alter the shape of by stress ~ vi: to become misshapen or changed in shape -- de.form.able adj syn deform, distort, contort, warp means to mar or spoil by or as if by twisting. deform may imply a change of shape through stress, injury, or some accident of growth "his face was deformed by hatred". distort and contort both imply a wrenching from the natural, normal, or justly proportioned, but contort suggests a more involved twisting and a more grotesque and painful result "the odd camera angle distorts the figure in the photograph" "disease had painfully contorted her body". warp indicates physically an uneven shrinking that bends or twists out of a flat plane "warped floorboards".