verb (used with object)
to form by or as if by winding strands together: Several fibers were used to twist the rope.
to alter in shape, as by turning the ends in opposite directions, so that parts previously in the same straight line and plane are located in a spiral curve: The sculptor twisted the form into an arabesque. He twisted his body around to look behind him.
to turn sharply or wrench out of place; sprain: He twisted his ankle.
to pull, tear, or break off by turning forcibly: He twisted the arm off the puppet.
to distort (the features) by tensing or contracting the facial muscles; contort: She twisted her face in a wry smile.
to distort the meaning or form of; pervert: He twisted my comment about to suit his own purpose.
to cause to become mentally or emotionally distorted; warp: The loss of his business twisted his whole outlook on life.
to form into a coil, knot, or the like by winding, rolling, etc.: to twist the hair into a knot.
to bend tortuously.
to turn (something) from one direction to another, as by rotating or revolving: I twisted my chair to face the window.
to combine or associate intimately.
verb (used without object)
to be or become intertwined.
to wind or twine about something.
to writhe or squirm.
to turn so as to face in another direction.
to turn, coil, or bend into a spiral shape.
to change shape under forcible turning or twisting.
to dance the twist.
a deviation in direction; curve; bend; turn.
a twisting awry or askew.
distortion or perversion, as of meaning or form.
spiral disposition, arrangement, or form.
spiral movement or course.
an irregular bend; crook; kink.
a sudden, unanticipated change of course, as of events.
a treatment, method, idea, version, etc., especially one differing from that which preceded: The screenwriters gave the old plot a new twist.
the stress causing this alteration; torque.
the resulting state.
a loaf or roll of dough twisted and baked.
a wrench.


twistable, adjective
twistability, noun
twistedly, adverb
twistingly, adverb
overtwist, verb
retwist, verb
untwistable, adjective

7. wrench, wrest, yank. 32. See turn. Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
twist (twɪst)
1.  to cause (one end or part) to turn or (of one end or part) to turn in the opposite direction from another; coil or spin
2.  to distort or be distorted; change in shape
3.  to wind or cause to wind; twine, coil, or intertwine: to twist flowers into a wreath
4.  to force or be forced out of the natural form or position: to twist one's ankle
5.  (usually passive) to change or cause to change for the worse in character, meaning, etc; pervert: his ideas are twisted; she twisted the statement
6.  to revolve or cause to revolve; rotate
7.  (tr) to wrench with a turning action: to twist something from someone's grasp
8.  (intr) to follow a winding course
9.  (intr) to squirm, as with pain
10.  (intr) to dance the twist
11.  informal (Brit) (tr) to cheat; swindle
12.  twist someone's arm to persuade or coerce someone
13.  the act or an instance of twisting
14.  something formed by or as if by twisting: a twist of hair
15.  a decisive change of direction, aim, meaning, or character
16.  (in a novel, play, etc) an unexpected event, revelation, or other development
17.  a bend: a twist in the road
18.  a distortion of the original or natural shape or form
19.  a jerky pull, wrench, or turn
20.  a strange personal characteristic, esp a bad one
21.  a confused mess, tangle, or knot made by twisting
22.  a twisted thread used in sewing where extra strength is needed
23.  (in weaving) a specified direction of twisting the yarn
24.  the twist a modern dance popular in the 1960s, in which couples vigorously twist the hips in time to rhythmic music
25.  a bread loaf or roll made of one or more pieces of twisted dough
26.  a thin sliver of peel from a lemon, lime, etc, twisted and added to a drink
27.  a.  a cigar made by twisting three cigars around one another
 b.  chewing tobacco made in the form of a roll by twisting the leaves together
28.  physics torsional deformation or shear stress or strain
29.  chiefly (US), (Canadian) sport spin given to a ball in various games, esp baseball
30.  the extent to which the grooves in the bore of a rifled firearm are spiralled
31.  slang (Brit) round the twist mad; eccentric
[Old English; related to German dialect Zwist a quarrel, Dutch twisten to quarrel]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

1350, "flat part of a hinge," probably from O.E. -twist (in mæsttwist "mast rope, stay;" candeltwist "wick"), from P.Gmc. '*twis-, from root of two. Original senses suggest "dividing in two" (cf. cognate O.N. tvistra "to divide, separate," Goth. twis- "in two, asunder,"
Du. twist, Ger. zwist "quarrel, discord," though these senes have no equivalent in Eng.), but later ones are of "combining two into one," hence the original sense of the word may be "rope made of two strands." Meaning "thread or cord composed of two or more fibers" is recorded from 1555. Meaning "act or action of turning on an axis" is attested from 1576. Sense of "beverage consisting of two or more liquors" is first attested c.1700. Meaning "thick cord of tobacco" is from 1791. Meaning "curled piece of lemon, etc., used to flavor a drink" is recorded from 1958. Sense of "unexpected plot development" is from 1941. The popular rock 'n' roll dance craze is from 1961, but twist was used to describe popular dances in 1894 and again in the 1920s. To get one's knickers in a twist "be unduly agitated" is British slang first attested 1971.

early 14c. (implied in p.t. twaste), "to wring," from the source of twist (n.). Sense of "to spin two or more strands of yarn into thread" is attested from late 15c. Meaning "to move in a winding fashion" is recorded from 1630s. To twist the lion's tail was U.S. slang (1895)
for "to provoke British feeling."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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