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twist

/twɪst/

noun

Meaning

  • 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.

  • A twig.

  • A girl, a woman.

  • 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.

    "Damascus twist"

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

  • A beverage made of brandy and gin.

  • A strong individual tendency or bent; inclination.

    "a twist toward fanaticism"

  • An appetite for food.

verb

Meaning

  • 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.

  • To wind into; to insinuate.

    "Avarice twists itself into all human concerns."

  • 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.

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

  • To cause to rotate.

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

  • To coax.

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