twist

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To wind together (two or more threads, for example) so as to produce a single strand.
2. v. To form in this manner: twist a length of rope from strands of hemp.
3. v. To wind or coil (vines or rope, for example) about something.
4. v. To interlock or interlace: twist flowers in one's hair.
5. v. To make (one's way) in a tortuous manner: twisted my way through the briar patch.
6. v. To turn so as to face another direction: twisted their heads around at the sound of the doorbell.
7. v. To impart a spiral or coiling shape to, as by turning the ends in opposite directions: twisting wire into a loop.
8. v. To turn or open by turning: twisted off the bottle cap.
9. v. To pull, break, or snap by turning: twist off a dead branch.
10. v. To wrench or sprain: twist one's wrist.
11. v. To alter the normal aspect of; contort: twist one's mouth into a wry smile.
12. v. To alter or distort the intended meaning of: The cross-examiner twisted the words of the witness. See Synonyms at distort.
13. v. To alter or distort the mental, moral, or emotional character of: The trauma twisted the child's outlook.
14. v. To be or become twisted.
15. v. To move or progress in a winding course; meander: The river twisted toward the sea.
16. v. To squirm; writhe: twist with pain.
17. v. To rotate or revolve.
18. v. To dance the twist.
19. v. To move so as to face in another direction.
20. n. Something twisted or formed by twisting, especially:
21. n. A length of yarn, cord, or thread, especially a strong silk thread used mainly to bind the edges of buttonholes.
22. n. Tobacco leaves processed into the form of rope or roll.
23. n. A loaf of bread or other bakery product made from pieces of dough twisted together.
24. n. A sliver of citrus peel twisted over or dropped into a beverage for flavoring.
25. n. The act of twisting or the condition of being twisted; a spin, twirl, or rotation.
26. n. Sports A complete rotation of the body around its vertical axis, as in diving and gymnastics.
27. n. Sports A spinning motion given to a ball when thrown or struck in a specific way.
28. n. The state of being twisted into a spiral; torsional stress or strain.
29. n. The degree or angle of torsional stress.
30. n. A contortion or distortion of the body, especially the face.
31. n. A distortion of meaning: gave my words a misleading twist.
32. n. A sprain or wrench, as of an ankle.
33. n. A change in direction; a turn: a sharp twist in the path.
34. n. An unexpected change in a process or a departure from a pattern, often producing a distortion or perversion: a twist of fate; a story with a quirky twist.
35. n. A personal inclination or eccentricity; a penchant or flaw: an odd twist to his character.
36. n. A dance characterized by vigorous gyrations of the hips and arms.
37. idiom. leave to twist To abandon (someone) to a bad situation, often as a recipient of blame: "If our envoy was so blameless, why had she been left to twist in the wind?” ( William Safire).
38. idiom. twist (someone's) arm Slang To coerce by or as if by physical force: If you twist my arm, I'll stay for a second beer.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In Venetian and old English glasses, any one of the spiral lines, of various colors, frequently blown in the handles and other parts. See air-twist (with cut).
2. n. A thread, cord, rope, or the like made of two or more strands wound one about another; anything resembling such a rope or coil.
3. n. Specifically— A kind of strong, close silk thread used for sewing.
4. n. A kind of cotton yarn of several varieties.
5. n. In weaving, the warp-thread of the web.
6. n. A loaf or roll of twisted dough baked.
7. n. A kind of manufactured tobacco made in the form of rope or thick cord.
8. n. A fabric made with a double and hence heavy thread; coarse cloth. Compare twine, n., 1, and twine, adjective
9. n. A forked branch; a twig; a spray.
10. n. Same as fork, 5.
11. n. A hinge.
12. n. An intertwining or interlacing; a knot or net, or other interwoven contrivance.
13. n. A spiral form, disposition, or arrangement, such as may be produced by bending round both ends of an object in opposite directions; also, spiral or progressive rotary motion, or the path described by an object so moving: as, the twist given to a ball in pitching causes it to curve; the twist of a billiard-ball in play.
14. n. Specifically, in firearms.
15. n. The spiral formed by a groove in a rifled piece; the inclination of the grooves of a rifled piece to the axis of the bore.
16. n. Iron and steel twisted and welded together, used as a material for gun-barrels.
17. n. In architecture, the wind of the bed-joint of every course of voussoirs in a skew arch.
18. n. In rope, cordage, and the like, the way in which the spiral strands are laid, the number of strands, the degree of turn of the spiral, etc.; as, these two ropes differ in their twist.
19. n. A convolution; a curve; a flexure; a bend or turn.
20. n. A turning about, as on a pivot or axis; a turn; a twirl.
21. n. A wresting out of place; distortion; a wrench; a strain.
22. n. Figuratively, a peculiar bent, turn, or cast; a variation or perversion from the usual or normal type.
23. n. An appetite for food.
24. n. A mixed drink_: generally named from the spirit with which it is compounded.
25. n. In dynamics, a twist-velocity.
26. n. In mathematics:
27. n. A torsional strain or distortion.
28. n. A displacement along and around a screw; a translation combined with a rotation round an axis parallel to the direction of translation; in the non-Euclidean geometry, a compound of two rotations about conjugate polars to the absolute.
29. To unite, as two or more strands or filaments, by winding one about another; hence, to form by twining or rolling into a single thread; spin.
30. To intertwine; interweave; combine.
31. To weave; fabricate; compose.
32. To wreathe; wind; twine.
33. To bend or turn spirally, as by causing both ends to revolve in opposite directions; alter in shape so that parts previously in the same straight line and plane are located in a spiral curve; also, to cause to move spirally or with a progressive rotary motion, as a ball when pitched in a curve, or a billiard-ball when Englished.
34. To curve; bend; deflect: as, to twist a thing into a serpentine form; twisted like the letter S.
35. To thrust out of place or shape; contort or distort; pervert; wrench; wrest; warp: used literally or figuratively.
36. To press hard; wring.
37. To lop, as a tree, by cutting off branches or twigs.
38. To be intertwined or interwoven.
39. To be wreathed or coiled; wind.
40. To be bent round and round spirally; also, to move in such a manner or with continuous revolutions.
41. To curve; circle; revolve; move in a circle or spiral.
42. To be bent; turned, or contorted; writhe; squirm.
43. To be parted or cleft in twain; be divided, severed, sundered, or separated.

Wiktionary

1. n. A twisting force
2. n. Anything twisted, or the act of twisting
3. n. the degree of stress or strain when twisted.
4. n. A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together.
5. n. A sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc.
6. n. A sudden bend (or short series of bends) in a road, path, etc.
7. n. A distortion to the meaning of a word or passage.
8. n. An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.
9. n. A type of dance characterised by rotating one’s hips. See Wikipedia:Twist (dance)
10. n. A rotation of the body when diving.
11. n. A sprain, especially to the ankle.
12. n. obsolete twig
13. n. slang a girl, a woman
14. v. To turn the ends of something, usually thread, rope etc., in opposite directions, often using force.
15. v. To join together by twining one part around another.
16. v. To turn a knob etc.
17. v. To distort or change the truth or meaning of words when repeating.
18. v. To form a twist (in any of the above noun meanings).
19. v. To injure (a body part) by bending it in the wrong direction.
20. v. intransitive, of a path To wind; to follow a bendy or wavy course; to have many bends.
21. v. transitive To cause to rotate
22. v. intransitive To dance the twist (a type of dance characterised by twisting one's hips)
23. v. transitive to coax
24. v. card games in the game of blackjack (pontoon or twenty-one), to be dealt another card.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve.
2. v. Hence, to turn from the true form or meaning; to pervert.
3. v. To distort, as a solid body, by turning one part relatively to another about an axis passing through both; to subject to torsion.
4. v. To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts.
5. v. To wind into; to insinuate; -- used reflexively.
6. v. To unite by winding one thread, strand, or other flexible substance, round another; to form by convolution, or winding separate things round each other.
7. v. Hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up.
8. v. To form into a thread from many fine filaments.
9. v. To be contorted; to writhe; to be distorted by torsion; to be united by winding round each other; to be or become twisted.
10. v. To follow a helical or spiral course; to be in the form of helix.
11. n. The act of twisting; a contortion; a flexure; a convolution; a bending.
12. n. The form given in twisting.
13. n. That which is formed by twisting, convoluting, or uniting parts.
14. n. A cord, thread, or anything flexible, formed by winding strands or separate things round each other.
15. n. A kind of closely twisted, strong sewing silk, used by tailors, saddlers, and the like.
16. n. A kind of cotton yarn, of several varieties.
17. n. A roll of twisted dough, baked.
18. n. A little twisted roll of tobacco.
19. n. (Weaving) One of the threads of a warp, -- usually more tightly twisted than the filling.
20. n. (Firearms) A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together.
21. n. (Firearms & Ord.) The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.
22. n. Slang A beverage made of brandy and gin.
23. n. obsolete A twig.
24. n. Act of imparting a turning or twisting motion, as to a pitched ball; also, the motion thus imparted.
25. n. A strong individual tendency, or bent; a marked inclination; a bias; -- often implying a peculiar or unusual tendency.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the act of rotating rapidly
2. n. any clever maneuver
3. n. a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
4. n. a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments
5. n. turning or twisting around (in place)
6. v. turn in the opposite direction
7. v. practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive
8. n. a jerky pulling movement
9. v. extend in curves and turns
10. v. twist suddenly so as to sprain
11. n. an unforeseen development
12. v. do the twist
13. v. cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form
14. v. form into a spiral shape
15. n. a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself
16. n. a sharp bend in a line produced when a line having a loop is pulled tight
17. n. social dancing in which couples vigorously twist their hips and arms in time to the music; was popular in the 1960s
18. n. the act of winding or twisting
19. v. form into twists
20. n. an interpretation of a text or action
21. v. to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
22. v. twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates
23. n. a circular segment of a curve