What does "twist" mean?
A twisting force.
Twist
/twɪst/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A twisting force.
- Grammar: twist is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: bend, spin, turn, twirl.
- Useful contrasts: align with weekly pattern, continue, predictability.
- Usage evidence: Dickens was the author of 'Oliver Twist'.
How to use "twist"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "twist" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "twist" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "twist" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "twist" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "twist" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bend" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "twist", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A twisting force. countable, uncountable
- 2 any clever maneuver wordnet
- 3 Anything twisted, or the act of twisting. countable, uncountable
"Peter was always proud afterwards when he remembered that, with the Bargee's furious fingers tightening on his ear, the Bargee's crimson countenance close to his own, the Bargee's hot breath on his neck, he had the courage to speak the truth. "I wasn't catching fish," said Peter. "That's not your fault, I'll be bound," said the man, giving Peter's ear a twist—not a hard one—but still a twist."
- 4 the act of rotating rapidly wordnet
- 5 The form given in twisting. countable, uncountable
"Habakkuk brought him a ſmooth, ſtrong, tough Rope, made of many a ply of vvholeſome Scandinavian Hemp, compactly tvviſted together, vvith a Nooſe that ſlip'd as glib as a Bird-catcher's Gin. Jack ſhrunk and grevv pale at firſt ſight of it, he handled it, meaſur'd it, ſtretch'd it, fix'd it againſt the Iron-bar of the VVindovv to try its ſtrength, but not Familiarity could reconcile him to it. He found fault vvith the length, the thickneſs, and the tvviſt, nay, the very colour did not pleaſe him."
Show 30 more definitions
- 6 turning or twisting around (in place) wordnet
- 7 The degree of stress or strain when twisted. countable, uncountable
- 8 the act of winding or twisting wordnet
- 9 A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together. countable, uncountable
"the thrid By griesly Lachesis was spun with paine, That cruell Atropos eftsoones vndid, With cursed knife cutting the twist in twaine […]"
- 10 social dancing in which couples vigorously twist their hips and arms in time to the music; was popular in the 1960s wordnet
- 11 A sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc. countable, uncountable
"Bunny sat on the only remaining stool at the leather-padded oval bar in the Iron Lounge. It was happy hour, two drinks for the price of one. She decided on a martini with a twist, and while the bartender was preparing her drink, she scanned the faces looking at the bar."
- 12 a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair wordnet
- 13 A sudden bend (or short series of bends) in a road, path, etc. countable, uncountable
"But here a twist in the stream brought us out from the bushes"
- 14 an interpretation of a text or action wordnet
- 15 A distortion to the meaning of a passage or word. countable, uncountable
- 16 a jerky pulling movement wordnet
- 17 An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc. countable, uncountable
"I'm all agog at the new twist to the royal scandal."
- 18 an unforeseen development wordnet
- 19 A modern dance popular in Western culture in the late 1950s and 1960s, based on rotating the hips repeatedly from side to side. See Twist (dance) on Wikipedia for more details. countable, uncountable
"Come on, baby, let's do the twist Take me by my little hand and go like this"
- 20 a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself wordnet
- 21 A rotation of the body when diving. countable, uncountable
- 22 a circular segment of a curve wordnet
- 23 A sprain, especially to the ankle. countable, uncountable
- 24 a sharp bend in a line produced when a line having a loop is pulled tight wordnet
- 25 A twig. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"No twiſt, no twig, no bough nor branch […]"
- 26 a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments wordnet
- 27 A girl, a woman. countable, slang, uncountable
"James and Ruby danced over beside us. ‘Did you tell her?’ he asked, looking at me. I nodded. ‘Wait a minute,’ Gloria said, as they started to dance away. ‘What’s the big idea of talking behind my back?’ ‘Tell that twist to lay off me,’ James said, still speaking directly to me."
- 28 A roll or baton of baked dough or pastry in a twisted shape. countable, uncountable
- 29 A small roll of tobacco. countable, uncountable
"We spent a lot of time up on the staging of the great furnaces, trying to pick up the tricks of the trade from the taciturn furnacemen who sat around placidly smoking, or chewing twist, and occasionally throwing in more pig iron to the molten white-hot metal."
- 30 A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together. countable, uncountable
"Damascus twist"
- 31 The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon. countable, uncountable
- 32 A beverage made of brandy and gin. countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable
- 33 A strong individual tendency or bent; inclination. countable, uncountable
"a twist toward fanaticism"
- 34 An appetite for food. archaic, countable, slang, uncountable
"Hope you’ve brought good appetites with you, gentlemen. You, Doolan, I know ave, for you’ve always ad a deuce of a twist."
- 35 Ellipsis of hair twist. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
"The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings."
Verb
- 1 To turn the ends of something, usually thread, rope etc., in opposite directions, often using force.
- 2 twist suddenly so as to sprain wordnet
- 3 To join together by twining one part around another.
""Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so that I couldn't come down again. It went way up above the clouds, so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away. For a day and a night I traveled through the air, and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country.""
- 4 form into twists wordnet
- 5 To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve.
"June 8, 1714, Alexander Pope, letter to Jonathan Swift twisting it into a serpentine form."
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive wordnet
- 7 To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts.
"longing to twist bays with that ivy"
- 8 turn in the opposite direction wordnet
- 9 To wind into; to insinuate. reflexive
"Avarice twists itself into all human concerns."
- 10 form into a spiral shape wordnet
- 11 To turn a knob etc.
- 12 cause (an object) to assume a crooked or angular form wordnet
- 13 To distort or change the truth or meaning of words when repeating.
"Say I could succeed at the Bar, and achieve a fortune by bullying witnesses and twisting evidence; is that a fame which would satisfy my longings, or a calling in which my life would be well spent?"
- 14 twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates wordnet
- 15 To form a twist (in any of the above noun meanings).
- 16 to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling) wordnet
- 17 To injure (a body part) by bending it in the wrong direction.
"Then Romany went down, then we fell together, and the chaps separated us. I got another knock-down blow in, and was beginning to enjoy the novelty of it, when Romany staggered and limped. ‘I’ve done,’ he said. ‘I’ve twisted my ankle.’ He’d caught his heel against a tuft of grass."
- 18 do the twist wordnet
- 19 To wind; to follow a bendy or wavy course; to have many bends. intransitive
"I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn."
- 20 extend in curves and turns wordnet
- 21 To cause to rotate. transitive
"The tide seized us and swept us along, and in the races where this happened there were sucking whirlpools, strong enough to twist us round."
- 22 To dance the twist (a type of dance characterised by twisting one's hips). intransitive
"Twist it in the alley With long tall Sally Twistin' with Lucy Doin' the watusi."
- 23 To coax. transitive
""On the three-thousand-dollar reward John Bain is offerin' for the return of his sister," said Ace. "Now listen--I know a certain big Chinee had her kidnapped outa her 'rickshaw out at the edge of the city one evenin'. He's been keepin' her prisoner in his house, waitin' a chance to send her up-country to some bandit friends of his'n; then they'll be in position to twist a big ransome outa John Bain, see? [...]""
- 24 In the game of blackjack (pontoon or twenty-one), to be dealt another card.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"Dickens was the author of 'Oliver Twist'."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "twist"?
Common synonyms include: bend, spin, turn, twirl, a thing for, aberrancy.
How do you use "twist" in a sentence?
Dickens was the author of 'Oliver Twist'.
How do you pronounce "twist"?
Pronounced /twɪst/.
Etymology
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twist, from Old English *twist, in compounds (e.g. mæsttwist (“a rope; stay”), candeltwist (“a wick”)), from Proto-Germanic *twistaz, a derivative of *twi- (“two-”) (compare also twine, between, betwixt). Related to Saterland Frisian Twist (“discord”), Dutch twist (“twist; strife; discord”), German Low German Twist (“strife; discord”), German Zwist (“turmoil; strife; discord”), Swedish tvist (“quarrel; dispute”), Icelandic tvistur (“deuce”). The verb is from Middle English twisten. Compare Dutch twisten, Danish tviste (“to dispute”), Swedish tvista (“to argue; dispute”).