twist

American  

[twist] / twɪst /

verb (used with object)

• twists,
  present (3rd person singular)
• twisted,
  past participle,  past
• twisting
  present participle

1. to combine, as two or more strands or threads, by winding together; intertwine.

2. to form by or as if by winding strands together.

   Several fibers were used to twist the rope.

3. to entwine (one thing) with another; interlace (something) with something else; interweave; plait.

4. to wind or coil (something) about something else; encircle; entwine; wreathe.

5. 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.

6. to turn sharply or wrench out of place; sprain.

   He twisted his ankle.

7. to pull, tear, or break off by turning forcibly.

   He twisted the arm off the puppet.

   Synonyms:

   yank, wrest, wrench

8. to distort (the features) by tensing or contracting the facial muscles; contort.

   She twisted her face in a wry smile.

9. to distort the meaning or form of; pervert.

   He twisted my comment about to suit his own purpose.

10. to cause to become mentally or emotionally distorted; warp.

    The loss of his business twisted his whole outlook on life.

11. to form into a coil, knot, or the like by winding, rolling, etc..

    to twist the hair into a knot.

12. to bend tortuously.

13. to cause to move with a rotary motion, as a ball pitched in a curve.

14. to turn (something) from one direction to another, as by rotating or revolving.

    I twisted my chair to face the window.

15. to combine or associate intimately.

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verb (used without object)

• twists,
  present (3rd person singular)
• twisted,
  past participle,  past
• twisting
  present participle

1. to be or become intertwined.

2. to wind or twine about something.

3. to writhe or squirm.

4. to take a spiral form or course; wind, curve, or bend.

5. to turn or rotate, as on an axis; revolve, as about something; spin.

6. to turn so as to face in another direction.

7. to turn, coil, or bend into a spiral shape.

8. to change shape under forcible turning or twisting.

9. to move with a progressive rotary motion, as a ball pitched in a curve.

10. to dance the twist.

noun

• twists
  plural

1. a deviation in direction; curve; bend; turn.

2. the action of turning or rotating on an axis; rotary motion; spin.

3. anything formed by or as if by twisting or twining parts together.

4. the act or process of twining strands together, as in thread, yarn, or rope.

5. a twisting awry or askew.

6. distortion or perversion, as of meaning or form.

7. a peculiar attitude or bias; eccentric turn or bent of mind; eccentricity.

8. spiral disposition, arrangement, or form.

9. spiral movement or course.

10. an irregular bend; crook; kink.

11. a sudden, unanticipated change of course, as of events.

12. a treatment, method, idea, version, etc., especially one differing from that which preceded.

    The screenwriters gave the old plot a new twist.

13. the changing of the shape of anything by or as by turning the ends in opposite directions.

14. the stress causing this alteration; torque.

15. the resulting state.

16. a twisting or torsional action, force, or stress; torsion.

17. a strong, twisted silk thread, heavier than ordinary sewing silk, for working buttonholes and for other purposes.

18. the direction of twisting in weaving yarn; S twist or Z twist.

19. a loaf or roll of dough twisted and baked.

20. a strip of citrus peel that has been twisted and placed in a drink to add flavor.

21. a kind of tobacco manufactured in the form of a rope or thick cord.

22. a dance performed by couples and characterized by strongly rhythmic turns and twists of the arms, legs, and torso.

23. the degree of spiral formed by the grooves in a rifled firearm or cannon.

24. Gymnastics, Diving. a full rotation of the body about the vertical axis.

25. a wrench.

idioms

1. twist one's arm, to coerce.

   I didn't want to go, but he twisted my arm.

twist British  

/ twɪst /

verb

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 (tr) to cheat; swindle

12. to persuade or coerce someone

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noun

1. the act or an instance of twisting

2. something formed by or as if by twisting

   a twist of hair

3. a decisive change of direction, aim, meaning, or character

4. (in a novel, play, etc) an unexpected event, revelation, or other development

5. a bend

   a twist in the road

6. a distortion of the original or natural shape or form

7. a jerky pull, wrench, or turn

8. a strange personal characteristic, esp a bad one

9. a confused mess, tangle, or knot made by twisting

10. a twisted thread used in sewing where extra strength is needed

11. (in weaving) a specified direction of twisting the yarn

12. a modern dance popular in the 1960s, in which couples vigorously twist the hips in time to rhythmic music

13. a bread loaf or roll made of one or more pieces of twisted dough

14. a thin sliver of peel from a lemon, lime, etc, twisted and added to a drink

15. 1. a cigar made by twisting three cigars around one another

    2. chewing tobacco made in the form of a roll by twisting the leaves together

16. physics torsional deformation or shear stress or strain

17. sport spin given to a ball in various games, esp baseball

18. the extent to which the grooves in the bore of a rifled firearm are spiralled

19. slang mad; eccentric

Synonym Usage

See turn.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• twistability
  noun
• overtwist
  verb
• retwist
  verb
• twistable
  adjective
• twisted
  adjective
• twisting
  adjective
• twisty
  adjective
• untwistable
  adjective
• twistingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• twists
  plural

Participles

• twisting
  present
• twisted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• twist
  simple
• twists
  simple
• have twisted
  perfect
• has twisted
  perfect
• am twisting
  progressive
• are twisting
  progressive
• is twisting
  progressive
• have been twisting
  perfect progressive
• has been twisting
  perfect progressive

Past

• twisted
  simple
• had twisted
  perfect
• was twisting
  progressive
• were twisting
  progressive
• had been twisting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will twist
  simple
• will have twisted
  perfect
• will be twisting
  progressive
• will have been twisting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of twist

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English twisten “to divide,” derivative of twist “divided object, rope” (compare Old English -twist in candel-twist “pair of snuffers”); cognate with Dutch twisten “to quarrel,” German Zwist “a quarrel.” See twi-

Explanation

When you twist something, you turn it in a different direction. You might twist off a bottle cap, or you might even twist the plot of a story you are writing. A kite's tail twists in the wind, curling around itself, and a baker twists a piece of dough into a pretzel shape. You can also twist out of someone's grasp (to escape your godmother's cheek pinching), or twist your ankle hurrying away. As a noun, twist means a bent and curved shape, like the twist of a curl or a twist of soft serve ice cream. In a book or movie plot, a twist is a shocking development.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

twist twists twisted twisting

The death added a risky new twist to the epidemic, which has been advancing faster than any other Ebola outbreak on record.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

BBC culture correspondent Noor Nanji discusses his wild admission, as well as the show's latest twist.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Dozens of ecotoxicologists and marine scientists are trying to fill key data gaps, and the findings so far have been one plot twist after another.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

A further twist emerged Monday after officials said that police were alerted to the plot in the early hours of Sunday by one of the arrested suspects, who called emergency services to tip them off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

In a bittersweet twist, the first to do so was the inspirational astronomer and poet Zhenya Rudneva, of the 46th Guards.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

But the Guardian's deputy music editor Laura Snapes says it's not just fans who can benefit from these twists.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

But for a few twists of fate, she could be any of us.

From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026

"One way to picture it is that the current "twists" the phase of the coherent quantum state of the superconductor, rather like winding a spring," explains Eryin Wang, lead author of the study.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Episodes are chopped up into two-minute dopamine hits, with endless cliff-hangers and plot twists to keep viewers tuned in.

From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026

She went back to work, making calculations on her notepad, her face scrunching into all kinds of twists, strains, and contortions.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

We don’t have the opportunity to just cast aside potential allies because of some twisted moral-purity attitude that we have.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

If this quantum state is twisted too far, it becomes unstable.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

The meal felt, in a twisted way, cathartic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

He says Oli's body is now twisted and paralysed and he has no ability to move around.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Duane twisted his neck around, following Magic’s sudden departure, watching the whole unexpected episode unravel before his eyes in slow motion.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

But Mr. Holloway and Mr. Barrett are expert at twisting the mundane into the uncanny, and rely only minimally on the kind of jump-scares that cheapen many a horror movie.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

She showed that you can stand behind LGBTQ+ people without twisting into socially awkward or politically damaging positions, no matter your audience.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted that a spinning black hole would drag spacetime along with it, twisting it in a way that changes the orbits of the surrounding stars.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Prof Ramesh says a CME occurs when these twisting, looping lines - which resemble braided hair - rupture, throwing out massive clouds of magnetised plasma and gas in space.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

The sickening white of its twisting belly flashed in the firelight.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• coil
• contort
• screw
• spiral
• sprain
• swivel
• twirl
• weave
• wiggle
• wrap
• wrench
• wriggle