twister
Americannoun
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a person or thing that twists.
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Informal. a whirlwind or tornado.
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Chiefly British Informal. a deceitful, unscrupulous person.
noun
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a swindling or dishonest person
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a person or thing that twists, such as a device used in making ropes
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an informal name for tornado
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a ball moving with a twisting motion
Etymology
Origin of twister
1475–85; 1895–1900 twister for def. 2; twist + -er 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But when a twister menaces their city, and Dad calls the boys while on the air, that goes viral and there’s actually a moral to the story.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025
While a twister didn’t end up touching down in San Francisco, one did just south in Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2024
She was always more of a flipper than a twister, and Dennis sometimes landed on her neck from over-rotating her warm-up drills.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2024
The twister tossed vehicles, downed power lines and stripped limbs and bark from trees across the town.
From Seattle Times • May 7, 2024
“The curly tips of unfurled fern fronds. It makes an excellent tongue twister, doesn’t it? Unfurled fern fronds! Unfurled fern fronds!”
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
