contort

[ kuh n-tawrt ]

/ kənˈtɔrt /

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.

Nearby words

continuously variable transmission, continuum, continuum hypothesis, conto, contoid, contort, contorted, contortion, contortionist, contortive, contour

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
She did not see his face change and contort itself into malignancy.
The Soul Stealer|Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull
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

That it is possible so to contort the face as to render it unrecognizable is seen in some cases of angina pectoris, of course.
The Haunting of Low Fennel|Sax Rohmer
I kept seeing that Spanish woman whirl around and contort, and—do you mind my telling you?
The Golden House|Charles Dudley Warner
The rabbit, which had been hanging placidly suspended, was now seized with spasms and began to twitch and contort violently.
Boy Woodburn|Alfred Ollivant

British Dictionary definitions for contort

contort

/ (kənˈtɔːt) /

verb

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

Derived Forms

contortive, 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

contort

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Nearby words

Origin of contort

Examples from the Web for contort

British Dictionary definitions for contort

contort

verb

Derived Forms

Word Origin for contort