twist
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: twĭst
ipa: /twɪst/
ipa: [tw̥ɪst]
rhymes: -ɪst
Forms: form: twists
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”).
Senses: glosses: A twisting force.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 8, in The Railway Children:
text: Not the least turn or twist in the fibres of any one animal which does not render them more proper for that particular animal's way of life than any other cast or texture.
ref: 1711 July 29 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 120; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
glosses: Anything twisted, or the act of twisting.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “How Jack Hang’d Himself Up by the Perswasion of His Friends, who Broke Their Word, and Left His Neck in the Noose”, in An Appendix to John Bull Still in His Senses: Or, Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Morphew, […], →OCLC, page 16:
glosses: The form given in twisting.
glosses: The degree of stress or strain when twisted.
examples: text: the thrid
 By griesly Lachesis was spun with paine,
 That cruell Atropos eftsoones vndid,
 With cursed knife cutting the twist in twaine […]
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
text: I was one morning walking arm in arm with him in St James's Park, his dress then being […] waistcoat and breeches of the same blue satin, trimmed with silver twist à la hussarde, and ermine edges.
ref: 1808–1810, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, page 140
glosses: A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2005, Theodore J. Albasini, The Progeny:
glosses: A sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc.
examples: text: But here a twist in the stream brought us out from the bushes
ref: 1899, Edith Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods:
text: 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.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A sudden bend (or short series of bends) in a road, path, etc.
glosses: A distortion to the meaning of a passage or word.
examples: text: I'm all agog at the new twist to the royal scandal.
text: Though set in Los Angeles, the film has a familiar, television look and feel - two handsome partners, cops, criminals, fast cars and a marginal romance. The twist in the buddy-car-chase formula is that here the good guys tend to blur into the bad.
ref: 1987 October 23, Caryn James, “Movie Review: No Man's Land (1987)”, in New York Times:
text: Roy: Oh no, now I know there's a twist. I'm gonna spend the whole film guessing what it is. Damn you, Dominator!
Moss: Just try and forget that there's a twist.
Roy: Oh, how can you forget there's a twist?...
Douglas: Oh, I've heard of this flick. There's a twist in it, isn't there?... I bet he's a woman, that bloke. No, you think it's the future, but it's actually set in the past. It's not Earth. It's all a dream!... They're all clones. He's his own brother. Everyone's a ghost.
ref: 2007 September 7, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 3
text: In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.
ref: 2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The A.V. Club:
glosses: An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.
examples: text: Come on, baby, let's do the twist
 Take me by my little hand and go like this
ref: 1958, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, “The Twist”:
text: Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
Opened the lid and shook his fist
And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?"
It's now the Mash
It's now the Monster Mash.
ref: 1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:
text: Well, let's dance, well let's dance.
We'll do the twist, the stomp, the mashed potato too
Any old dance that you want to do
But let's dance.
ref: 1962, “Let's Dance”, Jim Lee (lyrics), performed by Chris Montez:
text: She taught him to do the twist, having learned it herself from an Alvin Ailey dancer at Jacob's Pillow.
ref: 1997 April 22, Jennifer Dunning, “Surviving It All, Dismissals, Tours and Balanchine”, in New York Times:
qualifier: preceded by definite article
glosses: 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.
glosses: A rotation of the body when diving.
glosses: A sprain, especially to the ankle.
examples: text: No twiſt, no twig, no bough nor branch […]
ref: 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Thirteenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 235:
glosses: A twig.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1935, Horace McCoy, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Serpent’s Tail, published 2011, →ISBN, page 19:
text: (Dane, speaking about a woman character) "I'll see where the twist flops"
ref: 1990, Miller's Crossing, 01:08:20
glosses: A girl, a woman.
glosses: A roll or baton of baked dough or pastry in a twisted shape.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 14:
text: […] this Katie Byrne was a great favourite with Art and Con, to whom she always brought a gift of tobacco twist, when she came on a visit, and Art and Con were great chewers of tobacco twist, and never had enough, never never had enough tobacco twist, for their liking.
ref: 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
glosses: A small roll of tobacco.
examples: text: Damascus twist
glosses: A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together.
glosses: The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.
glosses: A beverage made of brandy and gin.
examples: text: a twist toward fanaticism
glosses: A strong individual tendency or bent; inclination.
examples: text: Hope you’ve brought good appetites with you, gentlemen. You, Doolan, I know ave, for you’ve always ad a deuce of a twist.
ref: 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XXXV, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
text: He [the yearling bull] had a good handsome male head, and he had a capital twist. He had a spring in his rib, and was something over seven feet in girth. He was well covered, and had all the recommendations of quality, symmetry, and size.
ref: 1861, The Farmer's Magazine, page 40:
glosses: An appetite for food.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2021, Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations, page 154:
glosses: Ellipsis of hair twist.