释义 |
twist I. \ˈtwist\ verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: Middle English twisten, from Old English -twist (in compounds) rope; akin to Old Frisian & Middle Low German twist quarrel, Middle Dutch, quarrel, twine, Old English twēgen, twā, tū two — more at two transitive verb 1. a. : to unite by winding a thread, strand, or wire around another : join by or as if by winding threads or strands together < not less than two yarns are … twisted together to form a strand — Manual of Firemanship (Gt. British) > b. : plait, wreathe c. : entwine, interlace 2. : to coil around something : twine < twisted her hair in ringlets around her finger > 3. : to associate intimately (as by a Luddite initiation) 4. a. : to wring, wrench, or wrest so as to dislocate or distort; especially : sprain < twisted my ankle > b. : to wrest the meaning or sense of : pervert, torture < one of those political phrases which can be twisted to mean whatever the user wants it to mean — Arthur Krock > < tends to exaggerate and twist many facts out of proportion — H.E.Salisbury > c. : to tighten up (facial muscles) : contort < twisted his face into a grin > d. : to pull off, turn, or break by means of a turning strain : force by torsion < kept on tightening the nut until he twisted it right off the bolt > e. : to cause to move with any of various turning motions (as by pivoting, revolving, or spiraling) < twisted her rocking chair toward the table — Arnold Bennett > f. : to form into a spiral shape < a pig's tail twisted into a corkscrew > g. : to cause to take on moral, mental, or emotional deformity : warp < their lives and minds have been warped, twisted and soured by the boom-boom, bit-hit policy that now governs the game — John Lardner > h. : to wrest into an alien or unnatural form : force into a desired shape : deflect, distort, divert < twisted as many things as I could into laughing matters — J.B.Benefield > < twisted the authority of the church to the side of wealthy pewholders — V.L.Parrington > i. : to take (a winding, indirect, or devious course) to a destination or objective < excitement one gets from watching a good broken-field runner twisting his way to a long touchdown — Jerome Stone > 5. : to turn (a sheet of paper) for printing on the reverse by the work-and-twist method 6. : to use misrepresentation or trickery to induce someone to drop (a life insurance policy) and buy (another) usually in a different company : switch (life insurance) unscrupulously for someone intransitive verb 1. : to coil or wind with sinuous or tortuous motion : follow a winding course < a narrow stream that twists through green valleys — American Guide Series: N. C. > 2. a. : to turn or change shape under torsion < the blade twisted in the vise > b. : to bend into or assume a spiral shape c. : squirm, writhe < he twisted uneasily in his chair — T.B.Costain > 3. of a ball : to rotate while taking a curving path or direction 4. : to turn around : face about < twisted around to see the approaching procession > 5. : to move forward while turning on an axis : advance while spinning < if you travel fast … you might easily twist over the edge into one of the steep ravines — Rose Macaulay > < the ball twisted slowly from the pitcher's hand > Synonyms: see curve, wind • - twist one's arm - twist around one's finger - twist the lion's tail II. noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, from twisten, v. 1. : something formed by twisting or winding: as a. : a thread, yarn, cord, or rope formed by twisting two or more strands together b. : a strong tightly twisted sewing silk used especially for buttonholes c. : a complete turn of a fiber, yarn, roving, or cord about its axis: (1) : the hardness of a cord expressed as the number of such turns per inch (2) : the state of being so twisted d. : a baked piece of twisted dough < a bread twist > < cinnamon twists > e. : tobacco leaves twisted into a thick compact roll f. : a strip of citrus peel twisted above a drink in order to flavor it with the expressed oils and sometimes dropped into the drink itself 2. a. : the fleshing between an animal's hind legs; especially : the juncture of the thighs of cattle or sheep b. : the curved tail of an animal (as a pug) 3. obsolete : the continuing thread of life 4. a. : the act of turning something or the state of being turned on or as if on its axis < rounded a sharp corner with deft twists of a file > b. : the spin given the ball in any of various games (as baseball) — compare curve, english c. : a spiral turn or curve (as that of an animal's horn) d. : the spiral rifling of a gun barrel; especially : the distance in which rifling makes one complete turn of the barrel < a 12-inch twist > e. (1) : torque or torsional stress applied to a body (as a rod or shaft) (2) : torsional strain (3) : the angle through which a thing is twisted f. : a warp in lumber that bends one or more of the four corners of a board out of the plane of the others 5. Britain : a vigorous appetite 6. a. : a turning aside : bend, deflection, deviation < the road wound through the hills with many a twist and turn > b. : a local or individual peculiarity of pronunciation or inflection < his outlandish twist of tongue — Harriot B. Barbour > c. : a strong individual tendency or bent : a marked inclination or bias : eccentricity, idiosyncrasy < all sorts of strange characters, of every race and mind, poets, philosophers, cranks of every twist, were in our class — John Reed > d. : a wresting or distortion of meaning or sense : perversion < gave the facts an imperceptible twist here and there to make the prisoner seem guilty > e. : a kinked or tangled confusion : an involved or intricate mess 7. Britain : a screw of paper used as a container : cornet < eats his sour olives out of a twist of paper — Elizabeth Monroe > 8. a. : an unexpected turn or development : a movement of action, plot, or policy in an unpredictable or astonishing direction < twists of history which give piquancy to the past — G.P.Musselman > < provides a fictional account with an unusual twist — T.C.Chubb > b. : device, trick < all the old twists of oratory were tried, but where there had been cheers before, there were now embarrassed silences — Atlantic > < acquainted with all the twists that make for efficient cooking — Jane Nickerson > c. : a novel approach, procedure, or method : gimmick < a teacher uses a new twist for an assignment — W.D.Baker > < a new twist in spending and saving habits — Sylvia F. Porter > < a twist on the chain-letter idea — Saul Carson > 9. also twist disease : a disease of wheat and rye that is caused by a fungus (Dilophospora alopecuri) often in association with an eelworm (Anguina tritici) and that causes earcockle of wheat 10. : a front or back dive in which the diver beginning usually at the highest point of the dive executes in corkscrew fashion but without bending the body a half turn or a complete turn by twisting the shoulders sideways so that the body follows the movement — compare full twist, half twist 11. slang : girl, woman; especially : floozy < the blonde … looked like a two-bit twist — Mickey Spillane > 12. Britain : a warp thread 13. : a spiral often colored line in the stem of a glass — compare air twist |