1535 Bible (Coverdale) Song of Sol. ii. 12 The floures are come vp in the felde, the twystinge tyme is come [L. Tempus putationis advenit].

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Twystyng wande, as wyker or osyer, uimen, inis, uimineus, a, um, of twystyng roddes.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 38^v Flaxe and Hempe..serueth for webbes of Linnen, and twysting of Cordes.

1599 in Archaeologia 64 382 For mending the twisting wheele.

1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης vi. 61 They..have to our Saviours Crown of Thornes no right at all. Thornes they may find anow, of thir own gathering, and thir own twisting.

1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 247 Making several vegetable or animal substances into Thred. Twisting,..Spinning.

a1673 T. Horton 100 Select Serm. (1679) xxii. 160/1 He can gather a Rod of these boughes, and make a scourge of these twistings.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xxi. 253/2 A Twisting wheele... This is an engine wherewith 2, 3 or more silk thrids are twisted, or turned all together into one entire double thrid.

1812 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 86/2 Thirty-eight were committed to Lancaster gaol, to take their trials for having administered the abominable and unlawful oath, known by the term of twisting-in.

1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 421 The motions of both machines, excepting those of that set of twisting-spindles facing the opposite company, are then struck into geer.

1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. Great Brit. vi. 188 There does not seem to be any definite distinction among silk-throwsters, between spinning, twisting, and throwing.

1878 A. Barlow Hist. & Princ. Weaving xxx. 312 It is not to be wondered at that attempts should be made to perform twisting-in by mechanical means.

1725 W. Halfpenny Art of Sound Building 29 The Angles..in the Figure, do represent the Twisting of each Piece.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. xvi The Twistings, and Movements, and different Postures of the Body.

1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. vii. 148 The Vermiculi in general are of no determinate or fixed regular shape, from their windings and twistings.

1808 Lady Lyttelton Corr. (1913) 14 A few pretty distortions of the features or graceful twistings of the body.

1818–20 E. Thompson Cullen's Nosologia (ed. 3) 224 Pain in the belly with a sense of twisting.

1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xix. 512 This should be done without any twisting or distortion of the glass.

1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. xvi. 255 I say, Bill, if them were we, what a precious twisting we should get to-morrow at six bells!

1890 Daily News 1 Dec. 6/2 Telling me that it [the letter] is being twisted this way and that, and asking me to put a stop to the twisting process.

1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature (1834) I. 76 To follow..all the twistings and crossings, and entanglements in those intricate subjects that have hitherto perplexed the learned world.

1856 F. Perthes Mem. II. vi. 94 What toil and trouble, what twisting and turning this undertaking has cost me.

1872 H. P. Liddon Some Elements Relig. iv. 154 A second regards sin as a twisting or perversion of the will from the right way.

1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 188 A useful arrangement is..that all the parts..by a single twisting of the axis..assume those positions which are most favourable for the functions of the leaves... In the terminal buds of such shoots this twisting is no longer necessary.

1886 Athenæum 10 July 39/1 The twistings and eddyings of the political current.

1906 Evening Post (N.Y.) 20 Jan. (Financial section) 7/1 By ‘twisting’ is meant the persuading of policyholders in one company to transfer their insurance to another.

1962 L. E. Davids Dict. Insurance 205/2 Twisting, practice of inducing any policyholder to lapse or cancel a policy for the purpose of replacing such policy with another to the detriment of the policyholder. The practice is considered to be unethical as well as illegal.

1979 Telegraph (Brisbane) 24 Sept. 24/2 In simple terms twisting works like this. A life insurance agent sells you a policy when he is working for company X... Three years later he switches allegiance to company Y. To make life easier he retraces his steps..to tell you that the policy from company X is outdated.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 273 [To] hinder the Press from working into a twisting Position.

1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 156 Borders that are twisting and circular.

1761 E. Young Resignation i. xxx The twisting strings Of ardent hearts combin'd.

1835 R. Willis Remarks Archit. Middle Ages vii. 74 The twisting form of the groin is disagreeable to the eye.

1872 H. W. Beecher Pop. Lect. Preaching ix. 178 Some long sentences are good, but not twisting ones.

1882 Daily Tel. 4 May The longitudinal or twisting strain, such..as a ship receives when she is struck at the same moment by a heavy sea on the starboard quarter and a heavy sea on the port bow.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 676 They [pains] may be aching, burning, twisting or shooting in character.

1902 F. T. Bidlake in Cyclists' Touring Club Gaz. Aug. 360/1 Any further brake pressure put on by the lever will remain locked on by the twisting handle.

1731 in N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict.