contort

[kuh n-tawrt]

See more synonyms for contort on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to twist, bend, or draw out of shape; distort.

verb (used without object)

to become twisted, distorted, or strained: His face contorted into a grotesque sneer.

Origin of contort

1555–65; < Latin contortus twisted together, past participle of contorquēre. See con-, tort

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for contort

writhe, deform, convolute, torture, curve, warp, twist, wrench, knot, wind, bend, gnarl, misshape

Examples from the Web for contort

Contemporary Examples of contort

Adèle and Emma contort themselves into a plethora of sexual positions.
The 10 Best Movie Sex Scenes of 2013: ‘Blue Is the Warmest Color,’ ‘Spring Breakers,’ and More
Marlow Stern
December 19, 2013
There will be side deals and efforts to contort platforms to draw new votes that make predictions hazardous.
France's Socialist Comeback?
Tracy McNicoll
October 10, 2011

Historical Examples of contort

Let talent writhe and contort itself as it may, it has no such magnetism.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
She did not see his face change and contort itself into malignancy.
The Soul Stealer
Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull
I kept seeing that Spanish woman whirl around and contort, and—do you mind my telling you?
The Golden House
Charles Dudley Warner
Contort the eyebrow sufficiently, and place the eyeball near it,—by a few lines you have anger or fierceness depicted.
Roundabout Papers
William Makepeace Thackeray
He could see her breast and shoulders heave and twist, and contort in a fury of effort.
Angel Island
Inez Haynes Gillmore

British Dictionary definitions for contort

contort

verb

to twist or bend severely out of place or shape, esp in a strained manner

Derived Formscontortive, adjective

Word Origin for contort

C15: from Latin contortus intricate, obscure, from contorquēre to whirl around, from torquēre to twist, wrench

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for contort

early 15c., from Latin contortus, past participle of contorquere "to whirl, twist together," from com- "together" or intensive (see com-) + torquere "to twist" (see thwart). Related: Contorted; contorting.