Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To turn or twist (wood, for example) out of shape.
- transitive v. To turn from a correct or proper course; deflect.
- transitive v. To affect unfavorably, unfairly, or wrongly; bias. See Synonyms at bias.
- transitive v. To arrange (strands of yarn or thread) so that they run lengthwise in weaving.
- transitive v. Nautical To move (a vessel) by hauling on a line that is fastened to or around a piling, anchor, or pier.
- intransitive v. To become bent or twisted out of shape: The wooden frame warped in the humidity.
- intransitive v. To turn aside from a true, correct, or natural course; go astray. See Synonyms at distort.
- intransitive v. Nautical To move a vessel by hauling on a line that is fastened to or around a piling, anchor, or pier.
- n. The state of being twisted or bent out of shape.
- n. A distortion or twist, especially in a piece of wood.
- n. A mental or moral twist, aberration, or deviation.
- n. The threads that run lengthwise in a woven fabric, crossed at right angles to the woof.
- n. Warp and woof.
- n. Nautical A towline used in warping a vessel.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A throw; a cast.
- n. A cast of fish (herring, haddock, etc.); four, as a tale of counting fish.
- n. The young of an animal when brought forth prematurely; a cast lamb, kid. calf, or foal.
- n. The sediment which subsides from turbid water; the alluvial deposit of muddy water atificially introduced into low lands in order to enrich or fertilise them.
- n. The state of being bent or twisted out of shape.
- n. A cast or twist; a distortion or twist, such as in a piece of wood.
- n. The threads that run lengthwise in a woven fabric; crossed by the woof or weft.
- n. A line or cable used in warping a ship.
- n. A theoretical construct that permits travel across a medium without passing through it normally, such as a teleporter or time warp.
- v. To throw; cast; toss; hurl; fling.
- v. To utter; ejaculate; enunciate; give utterance to.
- v. To bring forth (young) prematurely, said of cattle, sheep, horses, etc.
- v. To cause a person to suddenly come into a particular state; throw.
- v. (of the wind or sea) To toss or throw around; carry along by natural force.
- v. (of a door) To throw open; open wide.
- v. To twist or turn something out of shape
- v. To deflect something from a true or proper course
- v. To affect something wrongly, unfairly or unfavourably; to bias
- v. To arrange strands of thread etc so that they run lengthwise in weaving
- v. To weave, hence (figuratively) to fabricate; plot.
- v. To move a vessel by hauling on a line or cable that is fastened to an anchor or pier; especially to move a sailing ship through a restricted place such as a harbour
- v. To become twisted out of shape
- v. To go astray or be deflected from a correct course
- v. (for a ship) to be moved by warping
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The threads which are extended lengthwise in the loom, and crossed by the woof.
- n. A rope used in hauling or moving a vessel, usually with one end attached to an anchor, a post, or other fixed object; a towing line; a warping hawser.
- n. A slimy substance deposited on land by tides, etc., by which a rich alluvial soil is formed.
- n. A premature casting of young; -- said of cattle, sheep, etc.
- n. Four; esp., four herrings; a cast. See Cast, n., 17.
- n. The state of being warped or twisted.
- intransitive v. To turn, twist, or be twisted out of shape; esp., to be twisted or bent out of a flat plane.
- intransitive v. to turn or incline from a straight, true, or proper course; to deviate; to swerve.
- intransitive v. To fly with a bending or waving motion; to turn and wave, like a flock of birds or insects.
- intransitive v. To cast the young prematurely; to slink; -- said of cattle, sheep, etc.
- intransitive v. To wind yarn off bobbins for forming the warp of a web; to wind a warp on a warp beam.
- transitive v. To throw; hence, to send forth, or throw out, as words; to utter.
- transitive v. To turn or twist out of shape; esp., to twist or bend out of a flat plane by contraction or otherwise.
- transitive v. To turn aside from the true direction; to cause to bend or incline; to pervert.
- transitive v. To weave; to fabricate.
- transitive v. To tow or move, as a vessel, with a line, or warp, attached to a buoy, anchor, or other fixed object.
- transitive v. To cast prematurely, as young; -- said of cattle, sheep, etc.
- transitive v. To let the tide or other water in upon (lowlying land), for the purpose of fertilization, by a deposit of warp, or slimy substance.
- transitive v. To run off the reel into hauls to be tarred, as yarns.
- transitive v. To arrange (yarns) on a warp beam.
- transitive v. To twist the end surfaces of (an aërocurve in an airfoil) in order to restore or maintain equilibrium.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To cast; throw; hurl.
- To utter; ejaculate; enunciate; give utterance to.
- To bring forth (young) prematurely: said of cattle, sheep, horses, etc.
- In rope-making, to run (the yarn of the winches) into hauls to be tarred. See haul of yarn, under haul.
- To weave; hence, in a figurative sense, to fabricate; plot.
- To give a cast or twist to; turn or twist out of shape or out of straightness, as by unequal contraction, etc.; contort.
- To turn aside from the true direction; cause to bend or incline; pervert.
- Nautical, to move into some desired place or position by hauling on a rope or warp which has been fastened to something fixed, as a buoy, anchor, or other ship at or near that place or position: as, to warp a ship into harbor or to her berth.
- In agriculture, to fertilize, as poor or barren land, by means of artificial inundation from rivers which hold large quantities of earthy matter, or warp (see warp, n., 4), in suspension.
- To change.
- To turn, twist, or be twisted out of straightness or the proper shape.
- To turn or incline from a straight, true, or proper course; deviate; swerve.
- To change for the worse; turn in a wrong direction.
- To weave; hence, to plot.
- To fly with a twisting or bending to this side and that; deflect the course of flight; turn about in flying, as birds or insects.
- To wind yarn off bobbins, to form the warp of a web. See the quotation.
- To slink; cast the young prematurely, as cows.
- Nautical, to work forward by means of a rope fastened to something fixed, as in moving from one berth to another in a harbor, or in making one's way out of a harbor in a calm, or against a contrary wind.
- n. A throw; a cast.
- n. Hence, a cast of herrings, haddocks, or other fish; four, as a tale of counting fish.
- n. A cast lamb, kid, calf, foal, or the like; the young of an animal when brought forth prematurely.
- n. The sediment which subsides from turbid water; the alluvial deposit of muddy water artificially introduced into low lands in order to enrich or fertilize them.
- n. A cast or twist; the twist or bending which occurs in wood in drying; the state of having a cast, or of being warped or twisted.
- n. The threads which are extended lengthwise in a loom, and across which the woof is thrown in the process of weaving.
- n. Nautical, a rope, smaller than a cable, used in towing, or in moving a ship by attachment to something fixed; a towing-line.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. bend out of shape, as under pressure or from heat
- n. yarn arranged lengthways on a loom and crossed by the woof
- v. make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story
- n. a shape distorted by twisting or folding
- n. a twist or aberration; especially a perverse or abnormal way of judging or acting
- n. a moral or mental distortion
Etymologies
Middle English werpen, from Old English weorpan, to throw away.
(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)From Middle English warp, werp, from Old English wearp, warp ("a warp, threads stretched lengthwise in a loom, twig, osier"), from Proto-Germanic *warpaz (“a warp”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Middle Dutch warp, Middle Low German warp, German Warf, Danish varp, Swedish varp. (Wiktionary)
From Middle English werpen, weorpen, worpen, from Old English weorpan ("to throw, cast, cast down, cast away, throw off, throw out, expel, throw upon, throw open, drive away, sprinkle, hit, hand over, lay hands on (a person), cast lots, charge with, accuse of"), from Proto-Germanic *werpanan (“to throw, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Scots warp ("to throw, warp"), North Frisian werpen ("to throw"), Dutch werpen ("to throw, cast"), German werfen ("to throw, cast"), Icelandic verpa ("to throw"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
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They are then called upon to "weave the warp, and weave the woof," perhaps, with no great propriety; for it is by crossing the _woof_ with the _warp_ that men _weave_ the _web_ or piece; and the first line was dearly bought by the admission of its wretched correspondent, "give ample room and verge enough [198]."
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II. vii.187 (275,6) [Tho 'thou the waters warp] To _warp_ was probably, in Shakespeare's time, a colloquial word, which conveyed no distant allusion to any thing else, physical or medicinal.
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'are called upon to "Weave the warp, and weave the woof," perhaps with no great propriety; for it is by crossing the _woof_ with the _warp_ that men weave the _web_ or piece; and the first line was dearly bought by the admission of its wretched correspondent, "Give ample room and verge enough."
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They had what they called a warp mill donw there in the old mill, and you spooled, run the thread on big old spools, they called them.
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And at that time they were going up to what they called the warp mill.
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This collection of stereotypes reads like it fell through a time warp from a couple of decades ago.
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And now we expect Obama to work a miracle and get us out of this in warp speed ... not going to happen.
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If credibility warp is about stimulation, determinacy warp is about the frustration of not having the whole story, not knowing everything.
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Even without quirks, credibility warp is introduced here; the narrative is itself a quirk, asserting an incredible status as a narrative of the beyond.
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Weft (or mimetic weft): Where warp is introduced into a mimetic narrative by an alethic quirk, the alethic modality of “could have happened”, “could be happening” or “could happen” may be said to persist in effect, in so far as suspension-of-disbelief continues despite the quirk, or to be restored with a return to mimesis.
hernesheir commented on the word warp
To lay eggs. A hen warps and warys. --Provincial terms from the north of England. In Lancashire, wary meant to curse, from Anglo-Saxon warian, werigan, to curse or execrate.
May 17, 2011