- Twist
- Twist Twist, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Twisted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Twisting}.] [OE. twisten, AS. twist a rope, as made of two
(twisted) strands, fr. twi- two; akin to D. twist a quarrel,
dissension, G. zwist, Dan. & Sw. tvist, Icel. twistr the
deuce in cards, tvistr distressed. See {Twice}, {Two}.]
1. To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally;
to convolve.
[1913 Webster]
Twist it into a serpentine form. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
2. Hence, to turn from the true form or meaning; to pervert; as, to twist a passage cited from an author. [1913 Webster]
3. To distort, as a solid body, by turning one part relatively to another about an axis passing through both; to subject to torsion; as, to twist a shaft. [1913 Webster]
4. To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts. ``Longing to twist bays with that ivy.'' --Waller. [1913 Webster]
There are pillars of smoke twisted about wreaths of flame. --T. Burnet. [1913 Webster]
5. To wind into; to insinuate; -- used reflexively; as, avarice twists itself into all human concerns. [1913 Webster]
6. To unite by winding one thread, strand, or other flexible substance, round another; to form by convolution, or winding separate things round each other; as, to twist yarn or thread. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
7. Hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up. [1913 Webster]
Was it not to this end That thou began'st to twist so fine a story? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
8. To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as, to twist wool or cotton. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
