warp

[wawrp]

verb (used with object)

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

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

to distort or cause to distort from the truth, fact, true meaning, etc.; bias; falsify: Prejudice warps the mind.

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

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.

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

verb (used without object)

to become bent or twisted out of shape, especially out of a straight or flat form: The wood has warped in drying.

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

Nautical.

to warp a ship or boat into position.
(of a ship or boat) to move by being warped.

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

noun

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

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

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.

time warp.

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

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

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

Origin of warp

before 900; (v.) 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

Related formswarp·age, nounun·warp·ing, adjective

Synonyms for warp

1. turn, contort, distort. 2. swerve, deviate.

Antonyms for warp

1, 7. straighten.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for warping

corrupt, pervert, swerve, debase, deform, torture, crook, color, debauch, bastardize, curve, contort, twist, turn, vitiate, brutalize, deprave, misrepresent, deviate, wind

Examples from the Web for warping

Historical Examples of warping

There was a tremendous thump and the warping of the very universe about them all.
Wanderer of Infinity
Harl Vincent
These extra pieces are a help to stiffen the top and to keep it from warping.
Handwork in Wood
William Noyes
They are inconvenient for warping, and generally fitted with rollers.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
A block made of ash or elm, used in rope-making for warping off yarn.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
Warping or dragging them into shallow water had now to be commenced.
Michael Penguyne
William H. G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for warping

warp

verb

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

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

to pervert or be perverted

(tr) to prepare (yarn) as a warp

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

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

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

noun

the state or condition of being twisted out of shape

a twist, distortion, or bias

a mental or moral deviation

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

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

nautical a rope used for warping a vessel

alluvial sediment deposited by water

Derived Formswarpage, nounwarped, adjectivewarper, noun

Word Origin for warp

Old English wearp a throw; related to Old High German warf, Old Norse varp throw of a dragging net, Old English weorpan to throw

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 warping

warp

"threads running lengthwise in a fabric," Old English wearp-, from Proto-Germanic *warpo- (cf. Middle Low German warp, Old High German warf "warp," Old Norse varp "cast of a net"), from root *werp- (see warp (v.)). The warp of fabric is that across which the woof is "thrown." Applied in 20c. astrophysics to the "fabric" of space-time, popularized in noun phrase warp speed by 1960s TV series "Star Trek."

warp

"to bend, twist, distort," Old English weorpan "to throw, throw away, hit with a missile," from Proto-Germanic *werpanan "to fling by turning the arm" (cf. Old Saxon werpan, Old Norse verpa "to throw," Swedish värpa "to lay eggs," Old Frisian werpa, Middle Low German and Dutch werpen, German werfen, Gothic wairpan "to throw"), from PIE *werb- "to turn, bend" (cf. Latin verber "whip, rod;" Greek rhabdos "rod," rhombos "magic wheel"), from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Connection between "turning" and "throwing" is perhaps in the notion of rotating the arm in the act of throwing; cf. Serbo-Croatian obratiti, Old Church Slavonic vreshti "to throw." The meaning "twist out of shape" is first recorded c.1400; intransitive sense is from mid-15c. Related: Warped; warping.

Idioms and Phrases with warping

warp

In addition to the idiom beginning with warp

warp and woof

also see:

time warp