warp

American  

[wawrp] / wɔrp /

verb (used with object)

• warps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• warped,
  past participle,  past
• warping
  present participle

1. to bend or twist out of shape, especially from a straight or flat form, as timbers or flooring.

   Synonyms:

   distort, contort, turn

   Antonyms:

   straighten

2. to bend or turn from the natural or true direction or course.

   Synonyms:

   deviate, swerve

3. to distort or cause to distort from the truth, fact, true meaning, etc.; bias; incline.

   Prejudice warps the mind.

4. Aeronautics. to curve or bend (a wing or other airfoil) at the end or ends to promote equilibrium or to secure lateral control.

5. Nautical. to move (a vessel) into a desired place or position by hauling on a rope that has been fastened to something fixed, as a buoy or anchor.

6. Agriculture. to fertilize (land) by inundation with water that deposits alluvial matter.

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verb (used without object)

• warps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• warped,
  past participle,  past
• warping
  present participle

1. to become bent or twisted out of shape, especially out of a straight or flat form.

   The wood has warped in drying.

   Antonyms:

   straighten

2. to be or become biased; hold or change an opinion due to prejudice, external influence, or the like.

3. Nautical.

   1. to warp a ship or boat into position.

   2. (of a ship or boat) to move by being warped.

4. (of a stratum in the earth's crust) to bend slightly, to a degree that no fold or fault results.

noun

1. a bend, twist, or variation from a straight or flat form in something, as in wood that has dried unevenly.

2. a mental twist, bias, or quirk, or a biased or twisted attitude or judgment.

3. the set of yarns placed lengthwise in the loom, crossed by and interlaced with the weft, and forming the lengthwise threads in a woven fabric.

4. time warp.

5. a situation, environment, etc., that seems characteristic of another era, especially in being out of touch with contemporary life or attitudes, etc.

6. Also called spring line.  Also called spring.  Nautical. a rope for warping or hauling a ship or boat along or into position.

7. alluvial matter deposited by water, especially water let in to inundate low land so as to enrich it.

warp British  

/ wɔːp /

verb

1. to twist or cause to twist out of shape, as from heat, damp, etc

2. to turn or cause to turn from a true, correct, or proper course

3. to pervert or be perverted

4. (tr) to prepare (yarn) as a warp

5. nautical to move (a vessel) by hauling on a rope fixed to a stationary object ashore or (of a vessel) to be moved thus

6. (tr) (formerly) to curve or twist (an aircraft wing) in order to assist control in flight

7. (tr) to flood (land) with water from which alluvial matter is deposited

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noun

1. the state or condition of being twisted out of shape

2. a twist, distortion, or bias

3. a mental or moral deviation

4. the yarns arranged lengthways on a loom, forming the threads through which the weft yarns are woven

5. the heavy threads used to reinforce the rubber in the casing of a pneumatic tyre

6. nautical a rope used for warping a vessel

7. alluvial sediment deposited by water

warp Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing warp

• time warp

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• warpage
  noun
• warper
  noun
• unwarping
  adjective
• warped
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• warping
  present
• warped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• warp
  simple
• warps
  simple
• have warped
  perfect
• has warped
  perfect
• am warping
  progressive
• are warping
  progressive
• is warping
  progressive
• have been warping
  perfect progressive
• has been warping
  perfect progressive

Past

• warped
  simple
• had warped
  perfect
• was warping
  progressive
• were warping
  progressive
• had been warping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will warp
  simple
• will have warped
  perfect
• will be warping
  progressive
• will have been warping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of warp

First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English werpen, Old English weorpan to throw; cognate with German werfen, Old Norse verpa, Gothic wairpan; (noun) Middle English warpe, Old English wearp; cognate with German Warf, Old Norse varp

Explanation

To warp is to bend, twist, or otherwise become misshapen. Wooden furniture left outside in the rain will often warp from the moisture. Getting wet makes some things warp, while plastic has a tendency to warp in the hot sun. Sometimes people use the word colloquially to mean "have a bad or distorting influence on," as when a politician insists that video games warp kids' minds. In weaving, the warp is all of the threads running one direction — the ones that are woven over and under the warp are called the weft.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

warp warps warped warping

But the hearing wasn’t the only recent time warp.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

It was like watching someone’s personality warp into Mr. Hyde.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Investigators found that when those initial slab-to-column connections failed, the pool deck’s concrete slab began to silently warp and fracture over a 21-day period, progressively shifting immense weight to adjacent columns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

The New York Times calling it "cold and forbidding", while the Washington Post described it as a "time warp."

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

When a warp thread snapped, instead of instantly hitting the lever to stall the loom, she threw her apron over her head and burst into tears.

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

This warps market incentives, discourages fair competition, and introduces long-term risk to private capital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

At its core, she explains, lying is "telling a story with the intention to deceive people" and that warps reality in a powerful way which she warns can ultimately be damaging.

From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2026

This matters not just because it warps truth and dishonors Good’s memory but because it makes improving the world impossible.

From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2026

Among the nuggets he shared: “There’s a lensing effect that expands things out and warps things out in a very interesting way,” which affects our view of the stars around it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

Most of Trout’s novels, after all, dealt with time warps and extrasensory perception and other unexpected things.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

This effectively "warped time" for brain development, which was "super cool", she added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

“I think 2022 kind of warped people’s perception,” said David Royal, chief financial and investment officer at Thrivent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Everything from eating out to kids’ extracurricular activities has been warped by the wealthy’s ability to spend regardless of the price, said Brian Eder, managing partner and private wealth advisor at OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 13, 2026

"Even the idea of what is attractive and what is unattractive is becoming warped," he says.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

The shadows on their faces warped their mouths, making their top lips vanish and their lower lips move strangely.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

In this special three-part podcast, “AI and the Blurring of Reality,” Wall Street Journal personal-technology columnist Nicole Nguyen explores the ways that artificial intelligence is warping our understanding of what is real.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

It took Jadoon and his team months of welding and warping to fashion his Optimus Prime, with over 90 percent of its parts sourced from discarded vehicle pieces.

From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026

"In addition, when the pulses travel near a very massive object, they may be deflected and experience time delays due to the warping of space-time, as predicted by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity."

From Science Daily ● Feb. 17, 2026

It also sets up the acute psychology that drives Magellan: obsessive curiosity warping into enforced Christian conversion, a consequential folly to which the filmmaker adds his own historical take.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026

Werner climbs into the Opel, feeling as if the buildings are rearing around him, growing taller and warping.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Related Words

• corrupt
• pervert