twist
pronunciation
How to pronounce twist in British English:
UK [twɪst]
How to pronounce twist in American English:
US [twɪst]
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- Noun:
- an unforeseen development
- an interpretation of a text or action
- any clever (deceptive) maneuver
- the act of rotating rapidly
- a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments
- a sharp bend in a line produced when a line having a loop is pulled tight
- a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself
- a jerky pulling movement
- a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
- social dancing in which couples vigorously twist their hips and arms in time to the music; was popular in the 1960s
- the act of winding or twisting
- turning or twisting around (in place)
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- Verb:
- to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
- cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form
- turn in the opposite direction
- form into a spiral shape
- form into twists
- do the twist
- twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates
- practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive
- twist suddenly so as to sprain
Word Origin
- twist
- twist: [OE] Twist appears to come ultimately from prehistoric Germanic base *twi- ‘double’, which also underlies English twice, twig, twin, etc. In Old English it is found only in compound words, denoting such things as ‘rope’ (presumably originally made from ‘two’ strands) and ‘forked objects’. It does not appear as an independent word until the 14th century, by which time its association with ‘rope’ had given it the sense ‘wrench, wind’.=> two
- twist (n.)
- mid-14c., "flat part of a hinge" (now obsolete), probably from Old English -twist "divided object; fork; rope" (as in mæsttwist "mast rope, stay;" candeltwist "wick"), from Proto-Germanic *twis-, from PIE root *dwo- (see two). Original senses suggest "dividing in two" (cognates: cognate Old Norse tvistra "to divide, separate," Gothic twis- "in two, asunder," Dutch twist, German zwist "quarrel, discord," though these senses have no equivalent in English), but later ones are of "combining two into one," hence the original sense of the word may be "rope made of two strands." Meaning "thread or cord composed of two or more fibers" is recorded from 1550s. Meaning "act or action of turning on an axis" is attested from 1570s. Sense of "beverage consisting of two or more liquors" is first attested c. 1700. Meaning "thick cord of tobacco" is from 1791. Meaning "curled piece of lemon, etc., used to flavor a drink" is recorded from 1958. Sense of "unexpected plot development" is from 1941. The popular rock 'n' roll dance craze is from 1961, so called from the motion involved, but twist was used to describe popular dances in 1894 and again in the 1920s. To get one's knickers in a twist "be unduly agitated" is British slang first attested 1971.
- twist (v.)
- c. 1200 (implied in past tense form twaste), "to wring," from twist (n.). Sense of "to spin two or more strands of yarn into thread" is attested from late 15c. Meaning "to move in a winding fashion" is recorded from 1630s. To twist the lion's tail was U.S. slang (1895) for "to provoke British feeling" (the lion being the symbol of Britain). To twist (someone's) arm in the figurative sense of "pressure (to do something)" is from 1945. Related: Twisted; twisting.
Example
- 1. Outside , leaf shadows twist and fall like embers .
- 2. Yields had already priced in expectations of a twist .
- 3. A tiny twist here , a small shift there .
- 4. There was desperation in every rapid twist of his body .
- 5. Despite such reservations , it seems likely that art prizes with a philanthropic twist will become more common .