Sekirov Dictionary

twist

/twɪst/

verb 14
noun 22
forms 5
phrases 4

verb14

to turn something such as a rope by moving its two ends in opposite directions, often with force
To turn a knob etc.
•
To cause to rotate.
- The tide seized us and swept us along, and in the races where this happened there were sucking whirlpools, strong enough to twist us round. — 1911
To injure (a body part) by bending it in the wrong direction.
To wind; to follow a bendy or wavy course; to have many bends.
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To distort or change the truth or meaning of words when repeating.
- Say I could succeed at the Bar, and achieve a fortune by bullying witnesses and twisting evidence; is that a fame which would satisfy my longings, or a calling in which my life would be well spent? — 1848
To form a twist (in any of the above noun meanings).
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To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve.
- June 8, 1714, Alexander Pope, letter to Jonathan Swift twisting it into a serpentine form.
To join together by twining one part around another.
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To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts.
- longing to twist bays with that ivy — 1645
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To dance the twist (a type of dance characterised by twisting one's hips).
- Twist it in the alley With long tall Sally Twistin' with Lucy Doin' the watusi. — 1962
In the game of blackjack (pontoon or twenty-one), to be dealt another card.
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[with oneself] To wind into; to insinuate.
- Avarice twists itself into all human concerns.
To coax.

noun22

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Anything twisted, or the act of twisting.
- Not the least turn or twist in the fibres of any one animal which does not render them more proper for that particular animal's way of life than any other cast or texture. — 1711
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An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.
- I'm all agog at the new twist to the royal scandal.
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A sudden bend (or short series of bends) in a road, path, etc.
- But here a twist in the stream brought us out from the bushes — 1899
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A modern dance popular in Western culture in the late 1950s and 1960s, based on rotating the hips repeatedly from side to side. See Twist (dance) on Wikipedia for more details.
- Come on, baby, let's do the twist Take me by my little hand and go like this — 1958
A sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc.
A distortion to the meaning of a passage or word.
A sprain, especially to the ankle.
A twisting force.
A roll or baton of baked dough or pastry in a twisted shape.
The form given in twisting.
The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.
A rotation of the body when diving.
A strong individual tendency or bent; inclination.
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A small roll of tobacco.
- Uncle Charles smoked such black twist that at last his nephew suggested to him to enjoy his morning smoke in a little outhouse at the end of the garden. — 1916
Ellipsis of hair twist.
The degree of stress or strain when twisted.
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A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together.
- the thrid / By griesly Lachesis was spun with paine, / That cruell Atropos eftsoones vndid, / With cursed knife cutting the twist in twaine […] — 1596
A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together.
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(slang) A girl, a woman.
- (Dane, speaking about a woman character) "I'll see where the twist flops" — 1990
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(no longer used) A twig.
- No twist, no twig, no bough nor branch […] — 1600
(slang, no longer used) A beverage made of brandy and gin.
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(slang, no longer used) An appetite for food.
- Hope you’ve brought good appetites with you, gentlemen. You, Doolan, I know ave, for you’ve always ad a deuce of a twist. — 1848

forms

twisted · twisting · twisteth · twists · twistest

Phrases with twist

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