twist

plural twists

1. countableuncountableA twisting force.
2. countableuncountableAnything 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 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “TUESDAY, July 18, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 120; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC

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   Peter was always proud afterwards when he remembered that, with the Bargee's furious fingers tightening on his ear, the Bargee's crimson countenance close to his own, the Bargee's hot breath on his neck, he had the courage to speak the truth. "I wasn't catching fish," said Peter. "That's not your fault, I'll be bound," said the man, giving Peter's ear a twist—not a hard one—but still a twist.

   1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 8, in The Railway Children

3. countableuncountableThe form given in twisting.

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   Habakkuk brought him a ſmooth, ſtrong, tough Rope, made of many a ply of vvholeſome Scandinavian Hemp, compactly tvviſted together, vvith a Nooſe that ſlip'd as glib as a Bird-catcher's Gin. Jack ſhrunk and grevv pale at firſt ſight of it, he handled it, meaſur'd it, ſtretch'd it, fix'd it againſt the Iron-bar of the VVindovv to try its ſtrength, but not Familiarity could reconcile him to it. He found fault vvith the length, the thickneſs, and the tvviſt, nay, the very colour did not pleaſe him.

   1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “How Jack Hang’d Himself Up by the Perswasion of His Friends, who Broke Their Word, and Left His Neck in the Noose”, in An Appendix to John Bull Still in His Senses: Or, Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Morphew, […], →OCLC, page 16

4. countableuncountableThe degree of stress or strain when twisted.
5. countableuncountableA 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, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

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   VVhen thou our true Sampſon avvakeſt, and foundſt thy ſelfe tyed vvith theſe Philiſtian coards, and rouſedſt up, and brakeſt thoſe hard and ſtrong tvviſts vvith a ſuddaine povver, no marvell if the roome ſhooke under thee.

   1634, Jos: Exon. [i.e., Joseph Hall], “[The Residve of the Contemplations […].] The Resurrection.”, in The Contemplations upon the History of the New Testament, Now Complete: […], 2nd tome, London: […] M[iles] Flesher for Nath[aniel] Butter […], →OCLC, page 279

   I was one morning walking arm in arm with him in St James's Park, his dress then being […] waistcoat and breeches of the same blue satin, trimmed with silver twist à la hussarde, and ermine edges.

   1808–1810, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, page 140

6. countableuncountableA sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc.

   Bunny sat on the only remaining stool at the leather-padded oval bar in the Iron Lounge. It was happy hour, two drinks for the price of one. She decided on a martini with a twist, and while the bartender was preparing her drink, she scanned the faces looking at the bar.

   2005, Theodore J. Albasini, The Progeny

7. countableuncountableA 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, Edith Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods

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   I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

8. countableuncountableA distortion to the meaning of a passage or word.
9. countableuncountableAn unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.

   I'm all agog at the new twist to the royal scandal.

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   Though set in Los Angeles, the film has a familiar, television look and feel - two handsome partners, cops, criminals, fast cars and a marginal romance. The twist in the buddy-car-chase formula is that here the good guys tend to blur into the bad.

   1987 October 23, Caryn James, “Movie Review: No Man's Land (1987)”, in New York Times

   Roy: Oh no, now I know there's a twist. I'm gonna spend the whole film guessing what it is. Damn you, Dominator! Moss: Just try and forget that there's a twist. Roy: Oh, how can you forget there's a twist?... Douglas: Oh, I've heard of this flick. There's a twist in it, isn't there?... I bet he's a woman, that bloke. No, you think it's the future, but it's actually set in the past. It's not Earth. It's all a dream!... They're all clones. He's his own brother. Everyone's a ghost.

   2007 September 7, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 3

   In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.

   2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The A.V. Club

10. countableuncountablepreceded by definite articleA 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, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, “The Twist”

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    Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring Seems he was troubled by just one thing Opened the lid and shook his fist And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?" It's now the Mash It's now the Monster Mash.

    1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers

    Well, let's dance, well let's dance. We'll do the twist, the stomp, the mashed potato too Any old dance that you want to do But let's dance.

    1962, “Let's Dance”, Jim Lee (lyrics), performed by Chris Montez

    She taught him to do the twist, having learned it herself from an Alvin Ailey dancer at Jacob's Pillow.

    1997 April 22, Jennifer Dunning, “Surviving It All, Dismissals, Tours and Balanchine”, in New York Times

11. countableuncountableA rotation of the body when diving.
12. countableuncountableA sprain, especially to the ankle.
13. countableobsoleteuncountableA twig.

    No twiſt, no twig, no bough nor branch […]

    1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Thirteenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 235

14. countableslanguncountableA girl, a woman.

    (Dane, speaking about a woman character) "I'll see where the twist flops"

    1990, Miller's Crossing, 01:08:20

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    James and Ruby danced over beside us. ‘Did you tell her?’ he asked, looking at me. I nodded. ‘Wait a minute,’ Gloria said, as they started to dance away. ‘What’s the big idea of talking behind my back?’ ‘Tell that twist to lay off me,’ James said, still speaking directly to me.

    1935, Horace McCoy, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Serpent’s Tail, published 2011, →ISBN, page 19

15. countableuncountableA roll or baton of baked dough or pastry in a twisted shape.
16. countableuncountableA 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, James Joyce, chapter II, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC

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    We spent a lot of time up on the staging of the great furnaces, trying to pick up the tricks of the trade from the taciturn furnacemen who sat around placidly smoking, or chewing twist, and occasionally throwing in more pig iron to the molten white-hot metal.

    1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 14

    […] this Katie Byrne was a great favourite with Art and Con, to whom she always brought a gift of tobacco twist, when she came on a visit, and Art and Con were great chewers of tobacco twist, and never had enough, never never had enough tobacco twist, for their liking.

    1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC

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

    Damascus twist

18. countableuncountableThe spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.
19. countableobsoleteslanguncountableA beverage made of brandy and gin.
20. countableuncountableA strong individual tendency or bent; inclination.

    a twist toward fanaticism

21. archaiccountableslanguncountableAn 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 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XXXV, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

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    He [the yearling bull] had a good handsome male head, and he had a capital twist. He had a spring in his rib, and was something over seven feet in girth. He was well covered, and had all the recommendations of quality, symmetry, and size.

    1861, The Farmer's Magazine, page 40

22. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of hair twist.

    The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings.

    2021, Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations, page 154

present singular third person twists · participle present twisting · participle past twisted · past twisted

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

   Synonyms: torque, convolute

2. To join together by twining one part around another.

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   "Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so that I couldn't come down again. It went way up above the clouds, so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away. For a day and a night I traveled through the air, and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country."

   1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 15, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC

   Synonyms: braid, intertwist, lace, betwine, braid, entwist, entwine, interlace

3. 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.

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

   longing to twist bays with that ivy

   1645, Edmund Waller, To my Lord of Falkland

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   There are pillars of smoke twisted about wreaths of flame.

   1844, Robert Chambers, “Dr Thomas Burnet”, in Cyclopædia of English Literature

5. reflexiveTo wind into; to insinuate.

   Avarice twists itself into all human concerns.

6. To turn a knob etc.
7. 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 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

   Synonyms: wrest

8. To form a twist (in any of the above noun meanings).
9. To injure (a body part) by bending it in the wrong direction.

   Oh, you are a devil. You can twist the heart in a girl as easy as some could twist her arms to hurt her. Mrs Pearce warned me. Time and again she has wanted to leave you; and you always got round her at the last minute. And you dont care a bit for her. And you dont care a bit for me.

   1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act V, page 185

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   Then Romany went down, then we fell together, and the chaps separated us. I got another knock-down blow in, and was beginning to enjoy the novelty of it, when Romany staggered and limped. ‘I’ve done,’ he said. ‘I’ve twisted my ankle.’ He’d caught his heel against a tuft of grass.

   1901, Henry Lawson, Joe Wilson's Courtship

10. intransitiveTo wind; to follow a bendy or wavy course; to have many bends.

    2 more examples

    I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

    1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

    My coming to New York had been a mistake; for whereas I had looked for poignant wonder and inspiration in the teeming labyrinths of ancient streets that twist endlessly from forgotten courts and squares and waterfronts to courts and squares and waterfronts equally forgotten, and in the Cyclopean modern towers and pinnacles that rise blackly Babylonian under waning moons, I had found instead only a sense of horror and oppression which threatened to master, paralyze, and annihilate me.

    1926, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, He

11. transitiveTo 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, John Masefield, chapter 8, in Jim Davis

12. intransitiveTo 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, “Land of a Thousand Dances”, Chris Kenner (lyrics), performed by Chris Kenner

13. transitiveTo coax.

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    "On the three-thousand-dollar reward John Bain is offerin' for the return of his sister," said Ace. "Now listen--I know a certain big Chinee had her kidnapped outa her 'rickshaw out at the edge of the city one evenin'. He's been keepin' her prisoner in his house, waitin' a chance to send her up-country to some bandit friends of his'n; then they'll be in position to twist a big ransome outa John Bain, see? [...]"

    1932, Robert E. Howard, Dark Shanghai

    Synonyms: cajole, inveigle, wheedle, blandander, blandish, butter up, cajole, sweeten

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

    Antonyms: stay, stick

1. A surname.