contort

English

Etymology

Equivalent to con- + -tort; from Middle English, borrowed from Latin contortus, past participle of contorqueō, from com- + torqueō (“twist, turn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɔː(ɹ)t/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t

Verb

contort (third-person singular simple present contorts, present participle contorting, simple past and past participle contorted)

1. (transitive) To twist in a violent manner.

   features contorted with fury

2. (intransitive) To twist into or as if into a strained shape or expression.

Synonyms

• deform
• detort
• twist

Derived terms

• contortion
• contortive
• contortionist

Translations

To twist in a violent manner

• Bulgarian: изкривявам (bg) (izkrivjavam)
• Czech: zkroutit pf
• Dutch: verwringen (nl)
• French: se contorsionner (fr)
• Maori: whakapī (referring to making faces)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forvri

• Portuguese: contorcer (pt)
• Russian: деформировать (ru) (deformirovatʹ), скручивать (ru) (skručivatʹ), изгиба́ть (ru) (izgibátʹ)
• Swedish: förvrida (sv)
• Walloon: si ctråyner (wa)

To twist into or as if into a strained shape or expression

• Bulgarian: изкривявам (bg) (izkrivjavam)
• Czech: zkřivit se pf, zkroutit se pf
• Dutch: verwrongen of ontzet raken
• German: verzerren (de)
• Maori: whakakōiro, whakapī (of the features of the body)
• Portuguese: contorcer-se
• Russian: искривля́ть (ru) (iskrivljátʹ), искажа́ть (ru) (iskažátʹ)
• Spanish: contorsionar (es)

Anagrams

• Norcott