twister
Americannoun
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twisters
plural
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
The advantage of the twister tap, as Hernández explained it, is how repeatable it is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
It was as if a twister had hit the terminal.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
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
“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
Missouri bore the brunt of the twisters, which began to spawn on Friday.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
Six people died in Mississippi as tornadoes swept through that state and twisters killed another three in Alabama, including an 82-year-old woman.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
Iowa has so far recorded the most, with 81 confirmed twisters.
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2024
Much of Houston was battered by winds of speeds up to 100 miles per hour, rivaling speeds seen during Hurricane Ike, with “some twisters mixed in,” the city’s mayor, John Whitmire, said at the briefing.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2024
The maelstrom was coming undone, with little twisters coiling sideways out of the water.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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