What does twist mean?

Definitions for twist
twɪsttwist

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word twist.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. turn, turn of events, twistnoun

    an unforeseen development

    "events suddenly took an awkward turn"

  2. construction, twistnoun

    an interpretation of a text or action

    "they put an unsympathetic construction on his conduct"

  3. device, gimmick, twistnoun

    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"

  4. spin, twirl, twist, twisting, whirlnoun

    the act of rotating rapidly

    "he gave the crank a spin"; "it broke off after much twisting"

  5. wrench, twist, pullnoun

    a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments

    "the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell"; "he was sidelined with a hamstring pull"

  6. kink, twist, twirlnoun

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

  7. bend, crook, twist, turnnoun

    a circular segment of a curve

    "a bend in the road"; "a crook in the path"

  8. eddy, twistnoun

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

  9. twist, wrenchnoun

    a jerky pulling movement

  10. braid, plait, tress, twistnoun

    a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair

  11. twistnoun

    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"

  12. wind, winding, twistnoun

    the act of winding or twisting

    "he put the key in the old clock and gave it a good wind"

  13. twist, turnverb

    turning or twisting around (in place)

    "with a quick twist of his head he surveyed the room"

  14. writhe, wrestle, wriggle, worm, squirm, twistverb

    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"

  15. flex, bend, deform, twist, turnverb

    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"

  16. twistverb

    turn in the opposite direction

    "twist one's head"

  17. twist, twine, distortverb

    form into a spiral shape

    "The cord is all twisted"

  18. twistverb

    form into twists

    "Twist the strips of dough"

  19. wind, twist, curveverb

    extend in curves and turns

    "The road winds around the lake"; "the path twisted through the forest"

  20. twistverb

    do the twist

  21. wrench, twistverb

    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"

  22. twist, twist around, pervert, convolute, sophisticateverb

    practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive

    "Don't twist my words"

  23. twist, sprain, wrench, turn, wrick, rickverb

    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"

Wiktionary

  1. twistnoun

    A twisting force

  2. twistnoun

    Anything twisted, or the act of twisting

  3. twistnoun

    the degree of stress or strain when twisted.

  4. twistnoun

    A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together.

  5. twistnoun

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

  6. twistnoun

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

  7. twistnoun

    A distortion to the meaning of a word or passage.

  8. twistnoun

    An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.

  9. twistnoun

    A type of dance characterised by rotating one's hips. See Wikipedia:Twist (dance)

  10. twistverb

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

  11. twistverb

    To join together by twining one part around another.

  12. twistverb

    To turn a knob etc.

  13. twistverb

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

  14. twistverb

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

  15. twistverb

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

  16. twistverb

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

  17. twistverb

    To cause to rotate

  18. twistnoun

    A rotation of the body when diving.

  19. twistnoun

    A sprain, especially to the ankle.

  20. twistnoun

    twig

  21. twistverb

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

  22. twistverb

    to coax

  23. twistverb

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

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Twistnoun

    Etymology: from the verb.

    Minerva nurs’d him
    Within a twist of twining osiers laid. Addison.

    Winding a thin string about the work, hazards its breaking by the fretting of the several twists against one another. Joseph Moxon, Mech. Exer.

    Through these labyrinths, not my grov’ling wit,
    But thy silk twist, let down from heav’n to me,
    Did both conduct and teach me, how by it
    To climb to thee. George Herbert.

    About his chin the twist
    He ty’d, and soon the strangl’d soul dismiss’d. Dryden.

    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. Addison.

    Jack shrunk at first sight of it; he found fault with the length, the thickness, and the twist. Arbuthnot.

  2. To TWISTverb

    Etymology: getwisan , Saxon; twisten, Dutch.

    Do but despair,
    And if thou want’st a cord, the smallest thread
    That ever spider twisted from her womb,
    Will strangle thee. William Shakespeare.

    To reprove discontent, the ancients feigned, that in hell stood a man twisting a rope of hay; and still he twisted on, suffering an ass to eat up all that was finished. Taylor.

    Would Clothowash her hands in milk,
    And twist our thread with gold and silk;
    Would she in friendship, peace, and plenty,
    Spin out our years to four times twenty,
    And should we both in this condition,
    Have conquer’d love, and worse ambition,
    Else these two passions by the way,
    May chance to shew us scurvy play. Matthew Prior.

    The task were harder to secure my own
    Against the pow’r of those already known;
    For well you twist the secret chains that bind
    With gentle force the captivated mind. .

    Either double it into a pyramidical, or twist it into a serpentine form. Alexander Pope.

    There are pillars of smoke twisted about with wreaths of flame. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.

    If thou dost love fair Hero, cherish it,
    And thou shalt have her: was’t not to this end
    That thou began’st to twist so fine a story? William Shakespeare.

    All that know how prodigal
    Of thy great soul thou art, longing to twist
    Bays with that joy, which so early kist
    Thy youthful temples, with what horror we
    Think on the blind events of war. Edmund Waller.

    When avarice twists itself, not only with the practice of men, but the doctrines of the church; when ecclesiasticks dispute for money, the mischief seems fatal. Decay of Piety.

  3. To Twistverb

    To be contorted; to be convolved.

    In an ileus, commonly called the twisting of the guts, is a circumvolution or insertion of one part of the gut within the other. John Arbuthnot, on Aliments.

    Deep in her breast he plung’d the shining sword:
    Th’Inachians view the slain with vast surprize,
    Her twisting volumes, and her rolling eyes. Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia

  1. Twist

    The Twist is an American pop song written and originally released in early 1959 (having been recorded on November 11, 1958) by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to "Teardrops on Your Letter". Ballard's version was a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Chubby Checkers 1960 cover version of the song gave birth to the Twist dance craze. His single became a hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, and setting a record as the only song to reach number 1 in two different hit parade runs when it resurfaced and topped the popular hit parade again for two weeks starting on January 13, 1962. In 1988, "The Twist" again became popular due to a new recording of the song by The Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker. This version reached number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 1 in Germany. In 2014, Billboard magazine declared the song the "biggest hit" of the 1960s.

ChatGPT

  1. twist

    Twist generally refers to a sudden and unexpected change in situation, direction, or form. This term can be used in various contexts such as literature, movement, or shape. In literature, a twist often refers to a surprising turn of events in a story's plot. In movement, a twist refers to an action of rotating or turning something around an axis or center. In terms of shape, a twist refers to a distorted or warped form often created by bending or rotating.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Twistverb

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

  2. Twistverb

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

  3. Twistverb

    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. Twistverb

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

  5. Twistverb

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

  6. Twistverb

    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

  7. Twistverb

    hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up

  8. Twistverb

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

  9. Twistverb

    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

  10. Twistverb

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

  11. Twistnoun

    the act of twisting; a contortion; a flexure; a convolution; a bending

  12. Twistnoun

    the form given in twisting

  13. Twistnoun

    that which is formed by twisting, convoluting, or uniting parts

  14. Twistnoun

    a cord, thread, or anything flexible, formed by winding strands or separate things round each other

  15. Twistnoun

    a kind of closely twisted, strong sewing silk, used by tailors, saddlers, and the like

  16. Twistnoun

    a kind of cotton yarn, of several varieties

  17. Twistnoun

    a roll of twisted dough, baked

  18. Twistnoun

    a little twisted roll of tobacco

  19. Twistnoun

    one of the threads of a warp, -- usually more tightly twisted than the filling

  20. Twistnoun

    a material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together; as, Damascus twist

  21. Twistnoun

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

  22. Twistnoun

    a beverage made of brandy and gin

  23. Twistverb

    a twig

Wikidata

  1. Twist

    The Twist was a dance inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the early 1960s, enjoying immense popularity among young people and drawing fire from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed Potato, the Monkey and the Funky Chicken, but none were as popular. The dance was inspired by "The Twist," Chubby Checker's 1960 cover of the B-side of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters' 1959 single, "Teardrops on Your Letter." A world record was set in Deland, Florida on October 11, 2012, when Chubby Checker sang the song live and the crowd danced. An estimated 4,000 people twisted along with Checker, surpassing the previous Guinness World Record record for most people twisting in the streets at once.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Twist

    twist, v.t. to twine: to unite or form by winding together: to form from several threads: to encircle with something: to wreathe: to wind spirally: to turn from the true form or meaning: to fabricate, compose: to cause to move spirally, to bend: to wrest, wrench: to insinuate.—v.i. to be united by winding: to be bent, to move spirally: to revolve: to writhe.—n. that which is twisted: a cord: a single thread: manner of twisting: a contortion: a small roll of tobacco: a strong silk thread: (obs.) coarse cloth: a wrench, strain: a peculiar bent, perversion: (slang) a mixed drink, also an appetite for food.—adjs. Twist′able; Twist′ed.—n. Twīst′er, one who, or that which, twists: a whirling wind, a tornado: the inner part, of the thigh of a rider on horseback: a ball, as in cricket, billiards, &c., sent with a twist.—v.t. Twist′le (Scot.), to twist.—n. a wrench.—Twist of the wrist, the turning movement of the wrist in any work requiring dexterity, any quick action. [A.S. twist, a rope—twí-, two; Ger. zwist, discord.]

CrunchBase

  1. Twist

    Twist accurately calculates your estimated time of arrival (ETA) by using proprietary algorithm to weed through traffic and GPS data in record time. Then the app sends your family, friends or colleagues updates on your arrival status. Never leave anyone guessing again.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. twist

    This term is employed by gun-makers to express the inclination of a groove at any point, and is measured by the tangent of the angle made by the groove with the axis of the bore.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. TWIST

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Twist is ranked #21288 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Twist surname appeared 1,231 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Twist.

    83.9% or 1,033 total occurrences were White.
    6.5% or 81 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    4.6% or 57 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    3.5% or 44 total occurrences were of two or more races.

British National Corpus

  1. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'twist' in Verbs Frequency: #747

How to pronounce twist?

How to say twist in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of twist in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of twist in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of twist in a Sentence

  1. Farrell Allen:

    I wake up every morning and the first thing I do is have a 10-ounce glass of water from the tap or slightly warmed with a twist of lemon, it is my go-to to help me start the day.

  2. Alan Gow:

    When we look at the association between complexity of work with people or data, we see that those in more complex jobs generally do better on a range of cognitive ability measures, that’s not necessarily surprising . . . but we were able to add an interesting twist.

  3. Timothy Kaldas:

    Nobody is going to twist Egypt's arm about this now. No one cares. They think it is the best they will get right now, another thing that helps them is that the population has had two uprisings, in their eyes anyway, and after both the situation did not improve. On the contrary, it deteriorated.

  4. Tyler Perry:

    We are going to see lots of music, which is my favorite, just raw music; everything is live and there is a band onstage. I think people are really going to appreciate the work that has been put into the music. It’s a story with a lot of love and a story we all know for so many years but it’s a cool twist and I feel like it’s going to be a refreshing twist. you can’t see all the people through the camera, you just know they are there; I’ll be okay. As long as I don’t crown the wrong Jesus, I will be okay.

  5. Marie Baronnet:

    I didn't want to do something that was too close (to what) they were used to doing for so many years -- and that men photographers especially ask -- which is to be like a pinup like the typical Bettie Page picture, sometimes they would give that, and I would always kind of like twist it and say, 'Let's try something else, because this has been seen over and over again.'.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

twist#1#7835#10000

Translations for twist

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • برم, لوىArabic
  • překroutit, kroutit, twistCzech
  • wickeln, drehen, Biegung, Zwirn, verdrehen, verziehen, Twist, WendungGerman
  • tordiEsperanto
  • torcerSpanish
  • تافتنPersian
  • kierretty, äkkimutka, twist, mutka, ymmärtää, mutkittelu, väärinymmärrys, vääristely, vääntää, kierre, kääntää, punoa, käänne, siivu, kierto, vääntö, kiertää, vääristellä, vääntyminen, nyrjähdysFinnish
  • twist, entortiller, torsion, tordreFrench
  • sníomh, freangIrish
  • snìomh, carScottish Gaelic
  • faastManx
  • թվիստArmenian
  • travisamento, filamento, torsione, giravolta, forzatura, torcere, scorza, contorsione, piega, distorsione, filoItalian
  • 捻るJapanese
  • ئاڵاندنKurdish
  • opponoLatin
  • kanoiMāori
  • kręcićPolish
  • torcerPortuguese
  • răsuci, întortochea, stoarce, învârtiRomanian
  • скрутить, вертеть, изогнуть, исказить, изгибать, твист, скручивать, искажать, повернуть, крутитьRussian
  • izvrnutiSerbo-Croatian
  • vridaSwedish
  • кривитиUkrainian

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"twist." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/twist>.

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