I. ˈtwist verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English twisten, from Old English -twist (in compounds) rope; akin to Old Frisian & Middle Low German twist quarrel, Middle Dutch, quarrel, twine, Old English twēgen, twā, tū two — more at two
transitive verb
1.
a. : to unite by winding a thread, strand, or wire around another : join by or as if by winding threads or strands together
not less than two yarns are … twisted together to form a strand — Manual of Firemanship (Gt. British)
b. : plait , wreathe
c. : entwine , interlace
2. : to coil around something : twine
twisted her hair in ringlets around her finger
3. : to associate intimately (as by a Luddite initiation)
4.
a. : to wring, wrench, or wrest so as to dislocate or distort ; especially : sprain
twisted my ankle
b. : to wrest the meaning or sense of : pervert , torture
one of those political phrases which can be twisted to mean whatever the user wants it to mean — Arthur Krock
tends to exaggerate and twist many facts out of proportion — H.E.Salisbury
c. : to tighten up (facial muscles) : contort
twisted his face into a grin
d. : to pull off, turn, or break by means of a turning strain : force by torsion
kept on tightening the nut until he twisted it right off the bolt
e. : to cause to move with any of various turning motions (as by pivoting, revolving, or spiraling)
twisted her rocking chair toward the table — Arnold Bennett
f. : to form into a spiral shape
a pig's tail twisted into a corkscrew
g. : to cause to take on moral, mental, or emotional deformity : warp
their lives and minds have been warped, twisted and soured by the boom-boom, bit-hit policy that now governs the game — John Lardner
h. : to wrest into an alien or unnatural form : force into a desired shape : deflect , distort , divert
twisted as many things as I could into laughing matters — J.B.Benefield
twisted the authority of the church to the side of wealthy pewholders — V.L.Parrington
i. : to take (a winding, indirect, or devious course) to a destination or objective
excitement one gets from watching a good broken-field runner twisting his way to a long touchdown — Jerome Stone
5. : to turn (a sheet of paper) for printing on the reverse by the work-and-twist method
6. : to use misrepresentation or trickery to induce someone to drop (a life insurance policy) and buy (another) usually in a different company : switch (life insurance) unscrupulously for someone
intransitive verb
1. : to coil or wind with sinuous or tortuous motion : follow a winding course
a narrow stream that twists through green valleys — American Guide Series: N. C.
2.
a. : to turn or change shape under torsion
the blade twisted in the vise
b. : to bend into or assume a spiral shape
c. : squirm , writhe
he twisted uneasily in his chair — T.B.Costain
3. of a ball : to rotate while taking a curving path or direction
4. : to turn around : face about
twisted around to see the approaching procession
5. : to move forward while turning on an axis : advance while spinning
if you travel fast … you might easily twist over the edge into one of the steep ravines — Rose Macaulay
the ball twisted slowly from the pitcher's hand
Synonyms: see curve , wind
•
- twist one's arm
- twist around one's finger
- twist the lion's tail
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from twisten, v.
1. : something formed by twisting or winding: as
a. : a thread, yarn, cord, or rope formed by twisting two or more strands together
b. : a strong tightly twisted sewing silk used especially for buttonholes
c. : a complete turn of a fiber, yarn, roving, or cord about its axis:
(1) : the hardness of a cord expressed as the number of such turns per inch
(2) : the state of being so twisted
d. : a baked piece of twisted dough
a bread twist
cinnamon twists
e. : tobacco leaves twisted into a thick compact roll
f. : a strip of citrus peel twisted above a drink in order to flavor it with the expressed oils and sometimes dropped into the drink itself
2.
a. : the fleshing between an animal's hind legs ; especially : the juncture of the thighs of cattle or sheep
b. : the curved tail of an animal (as a pug)
3. obsolete : the continuing thread of life
4.
a. : the act of turning something or the state of being turned on or as if on its axis
rounded a sharp corner with deft twists of a file
b. : the spin given the ball in any of various games (as baseball) — compare curve , english
c. : a spiral turn or curve (as that of an animal's horn)
d. : the spiral rifling of a gun barrel ; especially : the distance in which rifling makes one complete turn of the barrel
a 12-inch twist
e.
(1) : torque or torsional stress applied to a body (as a rod or shaft)
(2) : torsional strain
(3) : the angle through which a thing is twisted
f. : a warp in lumber that bends one or more of the four corners of a board out of the plane of the others
5. Britain : a vigorous appetite
6.
a. : a turning aside : bend , deflection , deviation
the road wound through the hills with many a twist and turn
b. : a local or individual peculiarity of pronunciation or inflection
his outlandish twist of tongue — Harriot B. Barbour
c. : a strong individual tendency or bent : a marked inclination or bias : eccentricity , idiosyncrasy
all sorts of strange characters, of every race and mind, poets, philosophers, cranks of every twist , were in our class — John Reed
d. : a wresting or distortion of meaning or sense : perversion
gave the facts an imperceptible twist here and there to make the prisoner seem guilty
e. : a kinked or tangled confusion : an involved or intricate mess
7. Britain : a screw of paper used as a container : cornet
eats his sour olives out of a twist of paper — Elizabeth Monroe
8.
a. : an unexpected turn or development : a movement of action, plot, or policy in an unpredictable or astonishing direction
twists of history which give piquancy to the past — G.P.Musselman
provides a fictional account with an unusual twist — T.C.Chubb
b. : device , trick
all the old twists of oratory were tried, but where there had been cheers before, there were now embarrassed silences — Atlantic
acquainted with all the twists that make for efficient cooking — Jane Nickerson
c. : a novel approach, procedure, or method : gimmick
a teacher uses a new twist for an assignment — W.D.Baker
a new twist in spending and saving habits — Sylvia F. Porter
a twist on the chain-letter idea — Saul Carson
9. also twist disease : a disease of wheat and rye that is caused by a fungus ( Dilophospora alopecuri ) often in association with an eelworm ( Anguina tritici ) and that causes earcockle of wheat
10. : a front or back dive in which the diver beginning usually at the highest point of the dive executes in corkscrew fashion but without bending the body a half turn or a complete turn by twisting the shoulders sideways so that the body follows the movement — compare full twist , half twist
11. slang : girl , woman ; especially : floozy
the blonde … looked like a two-bit twist — Mickey Spillane
12. Britain : a warp thread
13. : a spiral often colored line in the stem of a glass — compare air twist