Forms: 4–5 twiste, 4–6 twyst, 5 twyste, (4 tuyst), 6– twist. Pa. t. and pple. twisted; also 4–5 twyst(e, twist(e; (pa. t. 5 tueste, 7 Sc. twust; pa. pple. 6–7 twist). [Evidently (like TWINE v.1) a deriv. from the stem TWI-, denoting either division in two (Branch I) or combination of two (threads, etc.) into one (Branch II). With the former cf. Flem., Du., and LG. twisten to disagree, quarrel (hence Da. tviste, Sw. tvista), Icel. tvistra or tvístra to scatter (also á tvist, OIcel. tvistróttr scattered); with the latter cf. older Flem. (Kilian) twisten to twine (thread), Da. dial. tviste, tweste. Branch III would be a natural development of II, though actually recorded a century earlier. The meaning of twisteð in Trin. Coll. Hom., 213 is obscure, and the passage appears to be in some way corrupt.]
I. To divide, separate.
† 1. intr. To divide into branches; to branch. Obs. rare.
1340. Ayenb., 159. Yef þe onderstondingge is wrong, oþer yef huy tuysteþ … al þe inwyt ssel by þiestre…. He tuysteþ ine tuo, huanne me wylneþ of one half to god, and of oþer-half to þe wordle.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxi. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 12/1. The tunges of addres bene blacke … swifte in meuyng … þat meueþ þe tunge so swiftelich so þat on tunge semeþ iforked and twisted [orig. Qui tam velociter linguas agitat vt vna numero bifurcari videatur lingua].
2. trans. a. To prune, clip. Obs. or dial.
1483. Cath. Angl., 399/2. To Twyste, defrondare.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. v. 6. I will laye it waist, that it shall nether be twysted nor cut, but beare thornes and breares. Ibid., 2 Esdras xvi. 43. He that twysteth the vynyarde, as he that shal not gather the grapes.
1672. in W. Grainge, Nidderdale (1863), 137, note. [The tenant also agrees] not to cut, fell, or twist the wood standing and growing thereon.
† b. fig. To detach, separate, take away. Obs.
c. 1440. Capgrave, St. Kath., I. 103. He prechyd so ther þat [he] hem alle twyst [v.r. twyste] Fro all her maumentrye & fals be-leue. Ibid., II. 866. I haue ȝit no list Þat ony man my maydynhod schuld twyst.
II. To combine, unite, and derived senses.
3. trans. To combine two or more yarns or fibers of (any suitable material) into a thread or cord by spinning; to form (a thread or cord) by spinning the yarns or strands. Also absol.
1471. Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.), 551. Alys Haweryng hat spowne and cardyd and twystyd tweyntey pownde of ȝerne.
1530. Palsgr., 764/2. I twyst threde, I twyne threde. This terme is northren; declared ‘I twyne.’
1595. Shaks., John, IV. iii. 128. The smallest thred That euer Spider twisted from her wombe Will serue to strangle thee.
1599. T. M[oufet], Silkwormes, 73. Man and maide Whilst winding, twisting, and in weauing, thay Now laugh, now chide.
1650. W. Brough, Sacr. Princ. (1659), 458. Cords … if well twist and made will bind and hold any though never so strong.
1690. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), II. 3. 6000 l. worth of hay is already bought on the river Severn and ordered to be twisted and sent on board.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 347. Tow-lines … they supplied by twisting a strong tough kind of flag or rush.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 557. Manufactory for spinning and twisting cotton.
1844. G. Dodd, Textile Manuf., vi. 184. Organzine, besides being wound, cleaned, and doubled, is twisted or thrown twice.
b. fig. or in fig. context.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, I. i. 313. Was’t not to this end, That thou beganst to twist so fine a story?
1643. Herle, David’s Song, 5. A double string,… twisted of two parts into a kind of discordant concord.
1663. Butler, Hud., I. I. 157. He a rope of sand could twist As tough as learned Sorbonist.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), III. 18. It twists the sacred and endearing cord of society;
1872. Bagehot, Physics & Pol. (1876), 120. His life is twisted into a thousand curious habits.
1884. F. M. Crawford, Rom. Singer, I. 17. I am trying hard to twist a rope of which I never held the other end.
c. transf. To plait, weave, twine, wreathe.
a. 1592. T. Watson, Poems (Arb.), 15. Where Lawrell wreath’s are twist for them alone, Whose gals are burst with often lasted sowre.
1693. Patent Specif., No. 313. A certaine Engine or Machine for the Makeing or Twisting of Whips.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), III. 6. To twist the garland of your blessedness.
1878. M. A. Brown, Nadeschda, 20. Of straw a girdle twisted up.
4. To join or unite by twining or interlacing; to twine together; to entwine (one thing) with or † to another; to intertwine, interweave.
1563. Golding, Cæsar, VII. (1565), 225. Fyue rowes of them ioyned and twysted one wythin another, so that whosoeuer ventured in, must nedes gore them selues vppon the sharpe pointes of the stakes.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XVII. xxiii. I. 537. These meet one with another in the space betweene, and are interlaced, twisted, and tied together.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 94. The people … thought to forbid … his desired entrance, by twisting one tree to another.
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 22. A Pillar made of three brazen Serpents twisted together.
1756–7. trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), I. 234. The seat … is made of bark and ropes twisted together.
1825. Scott, Talism., viii. A small silken bag made of network, twisted with silver. Ibid., xxvii. The sashes were twisted with silk and gold.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., xxiv. (1842), 632. Twist together five or six folds of steel harpsichord wire.
5. fig. To unite, combine, connect, associate intimately, like strands in a cord.
1573–80. Baret, Alv., T 460. To bind, or twist hard together, to mingle so together that one cannot tell what the thing meaneth.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, III. xxiv. (1840), 160. John de Bren … to twist his title with another string, married Maria Jole.
1646–8. G. Daniel, Tomb Earl Strafford, ii. Our Monarch’s Fate Was twist in his.
1652. Benlowes, Theoph., I. xcvi. Make arts thy tributaries, twist heart, tongue and pen.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, XI. 561. Pity your own, or pity our Estate; Nor twist our Fortunes with your sinking Fate.
1712. M. Henry, Commun. w. God, i. Wks. 1853, I. 205/1. God has been pleased therein to twist interests with.
1731. W. Bowman, Serm. Vers., 24. The church then with the state was twisted.
b. Twist in, to initiate or swear in as a member or associate of the Luddites. Twist out: see quot. 1883; also lit., to get out (a strand) from a cord by unravelling it.
1812. Chron., in Ann. Reg., 63/1. Offering five guineas bounty, and 15s. per week to all that would be twisted in.
1813. B. Walker in Examiner, 11 Jan., 21/2. The murder was well known amongst those twisted in.
1883. Almondbury & Huddersfield Gloss., Twisted out, after the trials at York, an order in Council directed that … the Luddites … should go before a magistrate, and be twisted out, as it was called; that is, they took the Oath of Allegiance.
1887. J. Hutchison, Lect. Philippians, iv. 35. The whole cordage … has a red thread moving throughout it, which cannot be twisted out without undoing it all.
c. fig. To entangle or mix up with something; to get into a tangled or confused state; to confuse, confound.
1863. Susan Warner, Old Helmet, 179. The question … was inextricably twisted up with the other question.
1908. Rider Haggard, Ghost Kings, viii. They had twisted up the story … into that [story] which they had narrated to her.
6. To wind or coil (a thread or the like) on or round something; to attach in this way; to encircle (an object) with or as with a thread, etc.; to entwine in something else.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, II. (Arb.), 66. I twisted a wallet On my broad shoulders.
16[?]. in Burton, Scot Abroad, I. iii. 150. He had long hair platt over his neck, whilk David Home … twust to his saddle-bow.
1710. W. King, Heathen Gods & Heroes, x. (1722), 34. His Thighs were all twisted round with Folds of Vipers.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., I. 51. A few wild flowers were twisted in her fine hair.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Sutherl., I. 21. Jane ran to a looking-glass and … twisted her limp ringlets round her long pale fingers into apologies for curls. Ibid., Passion & Princ., xii. III. 268. Twisting silk on bits of cards cut star-wise.
1870. J. Hamilton, Moses, v. 99. A sinful habit entwined and twisted round your souls.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, x. Lambert twisted the comforter round his throat and face.
7. intr. and refl. To pass or move in a tortuous manner; to coil or twine about or round; to penetrate into something with a tortuous movement or action.
1635. Quarles, Embl., IV. xii. 43. O how these Armes … did twine, And strongly twist about his yeelding wast!
1644. Evelyn, Diary, 7 March. A fountaine of serpents twisting about a globe.
a. 1652. J. Smith, Sel. Disc., i. (1821), 7. Any filthy vice … perpetually twisting itself into the thread of our finest spun speculations.
1705. Addison, Italy, 391 (Sienna). Great Columns … finely engraven with Fruits and Foliage that run twisting about ’em from the very Top to the Bottom.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VII. 227. They [boas] … will dart down upon travellers, and twist themselves so closely round their bodies, as to dispatch them in a very few minutes.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, xvi. Flowers, trailing and twisting in thick snaky coils close up the stems.
1850. Hawthorne, Scarlet L., iii. A writhing horror twisted itself across his face.
1851. Ruskin, Stones Ven., I. App. viii. 364. The weeds … have twisted themselves into its crannies.
III. To wring, wrench.
† 8. trans. To compress with a turning movement; to wring; also fig. to torment, harass. Obs.
Cf. tuaste pa. t. (c. 1325) in Ritson, Metr. Rom., II. 272.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 226 (254). Þe furye and þe rage Whiche þat his herte twyste & faste þreste. Ibid. (c. 1384), H. Fame, II. 267. For whan a pipe is blowen sharpe The aire ys twyst with violence And rent. Ibid. (c. 1386), Wife’s Prol., 494. Ther was no wight saue god and he þat wiste In many wise how soore I hym twiste. Ibid., Merch. T., 761. She taketh hym by the hand and harde hym twiste.
9. To wring out of place or shape, or so as to change the shape; esp. to force (a limb, etc.) round so as to sprain it; to wrench. To twist up, to screw up into a rounded form. Also refl.
c. 1530. Hickscorner, B ij. Imag. … At tyburne … Some there taketh a fall that maketh theyr necke lame. Frewyll. Ye but can they go no more? Imag. Oh no man. The wrest is twyst so sore.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., IX. vii. § 36. The Doctor fairly twisted his wrists almost to the breaking thereof.
c. 1803. C. K. Sharpe, New Oxford Guide, ii. I twisted my ancle—foment it with grease.
1827. Carlyle, Misc., Richter (1857), I. 2. This mirror is so twisted with convexities.
1844. W. H. Maxwell, Wand. Highl., II. xxi. 249. Twisting the neck of a skoray, or young kittiwake.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. viii. [He] seized him [Tom] and twisted his arm.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. vi. It seemed to twist itself into some likeness of boughs.
† b. spec. To twist a horse: see quot. Obs.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., To twist a horse, is violently to wring or twist his testicles twice about, which causes them to dry up, and deprives them of nourishment.
c. pass. To be hanged. slang.
1725. New Cant. Dict., Twisted, executed, hanged.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v., Nose, His pall nosed, and he was twisted for a crack,… was hanged for burglary.
10. To turn awry; to screw up or contract (the features, etc.); to contort, distort.
1789. W. Buchan, Dom. Med. (1790), 433. In the fit … his extremities are bent or twisted various ways.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xlvi. Sorely did he twist about his physiognomy, and much did he stumble in his speech, before he could express his idea.
1859. Tennyson, Lancelot & Elaine, 1139. The dumb old servitor … Winking his eyes, and twisted all his face.
1867. Aug. J. E. Wilson, Vashti, xxx. A bitter smile twisted the muscles about Mrs. Gerome’s mouth.
1898. ‘H. S. Merriman,’ Roden’s Corner, viii. At times he twisted his lips, moistening them with his tongue.
b. fig. To wrest the form or meaning of; to pervert; to distort; to force a meaning from.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xiv. Twisting into all manner of uncouth and incomprehensible forms of speech the honest plain English phrase which God gave us to express our meaning withal.
1829. Lytton, Disowned, xlviii. I tried to twist her words into a hundred meanings.
1853. Kingsley, Hypatia, viii. A mere logician, twisting Aristotle to mean what she knew … Aristotle never meant.
1871. Palgrave, Lyr. Poems, 120. A law no guile can twist to harm.
1883. 19th Cent., May, 730. Twisting my opinions into accordance with a party.
11. To force down, pull off or out with a turning strain; to wrench or wring off, etc. Also fig.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 62. A demagogue … with a dexterous jerk soon twists him down [from the summit of ambition].
1804. C. B. Brown, trans. Volney’s View Soil U.S. (Philad. ed.), 140. They [whirlwinds] twist off and lay level the largest trees.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., v. Untwining his gold chain from his neck, Balafré twisted off, with his firm and strong-set teeth, about four inches from the one end of it.
1838. G. P. R. James, Robber, vi. These foxes have almost twisted my thumbs off.
1890. Gunter, Miss Nobody, xiii. A summons or writ or some other cursed legal thumb-screw to twist the dollars out of my pocket!
12. To form into a spiral; to bend, curve, or coil spirally; to screw up.
1714. Pope, Lett to Swift, 18 June, Wks. (1751), IX. 1. You may find entertainment in folding it [this letter] into divers figures, either doubling it into a pyramidical, or twisting it into a serpentine form.
1765. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, VIII. xi. By all that is hirsute and gashly! I cry, taking off my furred cap, and twisting it round my finger.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxi. A cow chased by a whole nest of hornets, and her tail twisted over her rump like a corkscrew.
1839. Praed, Poems (1864), I. 326. Twisting up his songs Into the sweetest candlepapers.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 207. Some twist the iron before hammering to prevent it from becoming ‘spilly.’
1858. Greener, Gunnery, 195. I found that the inside was entirely composed of iron, over which the covering of Damascus had been twisted.
1861. Bentley, Man. Bot., 512. Flowers usually symmetrical…. Petals twisted in æstivation.
1875. Bennett & Dyer, Sachs’ Bot., 838. When the tendrils have fixed themselves by their extremities, they draw the stem towards the support by twisting themselves spirally.
1906. Marj. Bowen, Viper of Milan, x. He turned back into the corridor, twisting the ends of his scarlet robe between his fingers.
b. To twist (a person) round one’s finger, to have completely under one’s influence; so to turn, twist, and wind (one): cf. TURN v. 64.
1780. Mirror, No. 95, ¶ 7. At the first glance I saw into him, and could now twist him round my finger.
1787. Mme. D’Arblay, Diary, Aug. You turn, twist, and wind me just as you like.
1840. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, vi. Women may twist me round their fingers at their pleasure.
1855. Kingsley, Westw. Ho! xxix. The man has twisted the whole council round his finger.
c. intr. for refl. or pass.
1881. Greener, Gun, 224. The rod is carefully watched while twisting, and should one part commence to twist more rapidly than another [etc.].
a. 1886. in C. E. Pascoe, Lond. of To-day, xl. (ed. 3), 337. Seams are crooked and wrinkle, sleeves twist, the chest is tight,… &c. &c. The arrival of a new dress brings with it agonies.
13. intr. and trans. To eat heartily; also to twist (food) down. slang.
1694. Motteux, Rabelais, V. v. 17. Twist like Plough-jobbers, and Swill like Tinkers. Ibid., xxvii. 132. They us’d to twist store of Holy-bread, Cakes, Buns, Puffs, Lenten-Loaves, Jumbals and Biscuits.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Twist, to Eat. To Twist lustily, to Feed like a Farmer.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. T., s.v. Twist, To twist it down apace, to eat heartily.
1817–8. Cobbett, Resid. U.S. (1822), 165. She will twist down a half pound of beef with her ‘potatoe,’ and has twisted down half a pound of buttered toast in the morning.
IV. To rotate, etc.
14. trans. To cause to rotate as on an axis; to turn (anything) round so as to alter its position or aspect. To twist one’s fingers, to turn one’s fingers about nervously.
1789. W. Buchan, Dom. Med. (1790), 589. He must pull the head with considerable force, gently twisting it at the same time, if the face be turned to one side, till he perceives that the joint is replaced.
1796. Mme. D’Arblay, Camilla, IV. 80. She twisted it … hastily round, to hide the hand-writing of the direction.
1827. Scott, Surg. Dau., vi. I will twist your head round till your eyes look at the drummer’s handwriting on your back.
1864. Lowell, Fireside Trav., 264. Blocks of stone,… lowered, tipped, twisted, undermined, and generally capsized by the rains and frosts of centuries.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ Valerie’s Fate, vi. Speak then, you stupid child, and don’t stop short to twist your fingers.
b. Cricket. In bowling, to give a lateral spin to (the ball), so that it ‘breaks’ or turns aside on rebounding.
1833. Nyren, Yng. Cricketer’s Tutor, 118. If either of your bowlers twist his balls, favour such twist as much as possible.
15. intr. To rotate, revolve; also, to turn so as to face another way.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., x. 177. A strong Iron Screw … with a square Shank near the Head, that it may not twist about.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., ci. 12. When the lesser wain Is twisting round the polar star.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, II. viii. The ball comes skimming and twisting along about three feet from the ground.
1907. J. H. Patterson, Man-Eaters of Tsavo, xviii. 199. As we moved, the lion also twisted round and so always kept his head full on us.
16. intr. To turn aside and proceed in a new direction; spec. of a ball (at cricket, etc.): to turn aside or ‘break’ on rebounding; also, to proceed with frequent turns (often associated with turn); to follow a circuitous route; to wind, meander.
1833. Nyren, Yng. Cricketer’s Tutor, 45. If the ball be struck to his right hand, he will surely find it twist to his left.
1851. Lillywhite, Guide Cricketers, 15. Try every manœuvre to make the ball twist and shoot after it touches the ground.
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., iv. We just twist up Chancery Lane.
1863. W. C. Baldwin, Afr. Hunting, vii. 257. He turned, dodged, and twisted from side to side, with amazing quickness.
1879. S. C. Bartlett, Egypt to Pal., xiii. 289. The valley or ravine twisted this way, and that.
1895. Review of Rev., Aug., 168. The stream twists down through the valley.
1906. Marj. Bowen, Viper of Milan, x. The steps were few in number, before they twisted abruptly out of sight.
