TWIST

device, gimmick, twist

(noun) any clever maneuver; “he would stoop to any device to win a point”; “it was a great sales gimmick”; “a cheap promotions gimmick for greedy businessmen”

spin, twirl, twist, twisting, whirl

(noun) the act of rotating rapidly; “he gave the crank a spin”; “it broke off after much twisting”

twist, turn

(noun) turning or twisting around (in place); “with a quick twist of his head he surveyed the room”

wind, winding, twist

(noun) the act of winding or twisting; “he put the key in the old clock and gave it a good wind”

twist

(noun) social dancing in which couples vigorously twist their hips and arms in time to the music; was popular in the 1960s; “they liked to dance the twist”

braid, plait, tress, twist

(noun) a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair

construction, twist

(noun) an interpretation of a text or action; “they put an unsympathetic construction on his conduct”

twist, wrench

(noun) a jerky pulling movement

turn, turn of events, twist

(noun) an unforeseen development; “events suddenly took an awkward turn”

eddy, twist

(noun) a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself

bend, crook, twist, turn

(noun) a circular segment of a curve; “a bend in the road”; “a crook in the path”

kink, twist, twirl

(noun) a sharp bend in a line produced when a line having a loop is pulled tight

wrench, twist, pull

(noun) a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments; “the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell”; “he was sidelined with a hamstring pull”

twist, sprain, wrench, turn, wrick, rick

(verb) twist suddenly so as to sprain; “wrench one’s ankle”; “The wrestler twisted his shoulder”; “the hikers sprained their ankles when they fell”; “I turned my ankle and couldn’t walk for several days”

twist

(verb) form into twists; “Twist the strips of dough”

twist, twist around, pervert, convolute, sophisticate

(verb) practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive; “Don’t twist my words”

twist

(verb) turn in the opposite direction; “twist one’s head”

twist, twine, distort

(verb) form into a spiral shape; “The cord is all twisted”

flex, bend, deform, twist, turn

(verb) cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form; “bend the rod”; “twist the dough into a braid”; “the strong man could turn an iron bar”

wrench, twist

(verb) twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates; “wrench a window off its hinges”; “wrench oneself free from somebody’s grip”; “a deep sigh was wrenched from his chest”

writhe, wrestle, wriggle, worm, squirm, twist

(verb) to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling); “The prisoner writhed in discomfort”; “The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt’s embrace”

twist

(verb) do the twist

wind, twist, curve

(verb) extend in curves and turns; “The road winds around the lake”; “the path twisted through the forest”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

twist (plural twists)

A twisting force.

Anything twisted, or the act of twisting.

The form given in twisting.

The degree of stress or strain when twisted.

A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together.

A sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc.

A sudden bend (or short series of bends) in a road, path, etc.

A distortion to the meaning of a word or passage.

An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.

(preceded by definite article) A type of dance characterised by rotating one’s hips. See Twist (dance) on Wikipedia for more details.

A rotation of the body when diving.

A sprain, especially to the ankle.

(obsolete) A twig.

(slang) A girl, a woman.

(obsolete) A roll of twisted dough, baked.

A small roll of tobacco.

A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together.

The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.

(obsolete, slang) A beverage made of brandy and gin.

A strong individual tendency or bent; inclination.

(slang, archaic) An appetite for food.

Verb

twist (third-person singular simple present twists, present participle twisting, simple past and past participle twisted)

To turn the ends of something, usually thread, rope etc, in opposite directions, often using force.

To join together by twining one part around another.

To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve.

To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts.

(reflexive) To wind into; to insinuate.

To turn a knob etc.

To distort or change the truth or meaning of words when repeating.

To form a twist (in any of the above noun meanings).

To injure (a body part) by bending it in the wrong direction.

(intransitive, of a path) To wind; to follow a bendy or wavy course; to have many bends.

(transitive) To cause to rotate.

(intransitive) To dance the twist (a type of dance characterised by twisting one's hips).

(transitive) To coax.

(card games) In the game of blackjack (pontoon or twenty-one), to be dealt another card.

Antonyms

(in blackjack, be dealt another card): stick; stay

Anagrams

• twits, witts

Source: Wiktionary

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Twist, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Twisted; p. pr. & vb. n. Twisting.] Etym: [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. Twist it into a serpentine form. Pope.

2. Hence, to turn from the true form or meaning; to pervert; as, to twist a passage cited from an author.

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.

4. To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts. "Longing to twist bays with that ivy." Waller. There are pillars of smoke twisted about wreaths of flame. T. Burnet.

5. To wind into; to insinuate; -- used reflexively; as, avarice twists itself into all human concerns.

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.

7. Hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up. Was it not to this end That thou began'st to twist so fine a story Shak.

8. To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as, to twist wool or cotton.

Twist, v. i.

1. To be contorted; to writhe; to be distorted by torsion; to be united by winding round each other; to be or become twisted; as, some strands will twist more easily than others.

2. To follow a helical or spiral course; to be in the form of a helix.

Twist, n.

1. The act of twisting; a contortion; a flexure; a convolution; a bending. Not the least turn or twist in the fibers 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. Addison.

2. The form given in twisting. [He] shrunk at first sight of it; he found fault with the length, the thickness, and the twist. Arbuthnot.

3. That which is formed by twisting, convoluting, or uniting parts. Specifically: -- (a) A cord, thread, or anything flexible, formed by winding strands or separate things round each other. (b) A kind of closely twisted, strong sewing silk, used by tailors, saddlers, and the like. (c) A kind of cotton yarn, of several varieties. (d) A roll of twisted dough, baked. (e) A little twisted roll of tobacco. (f) (Weaving) One of the threads of a warp, -- usually more tightly twisted than the filling. (g) (Firearms)

Definition: A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together; as, Damascus twist. (h) (Firearms & Ord.) The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon. (i) A beverage made of brandy and gin. [Slang]

4. Etym: [OE.; -- so called as being a two-forked branch. See Twist, v. t.]

Definition: A twig. [Obs.] Chaucer. Fairfax. Gain twist, or Gaining twist (Firearms), twist of which the pitch is less, and the inclination greater, at the muzzle than at the breech.

– Twist drill, a drill the body of which is twisted like that of an auger. See Illust. of Drill.

– Uniform twist (Firearms), a twist of which the spiral course has an equal pitch throughout.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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