Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

contort

American  
[kuhn-tawrt] / kənˈtɔrt /

verb (used with object)

  1. to twist, bend, or draw out of shape; distort.

verb (used without object)

  1. to become twisted, distorted, or strained.

    His face contorted into a grotesque sneer.
contort British  
/ kənˈtɔːt /

verb

  1. to twist or bend severely out of place or shape, esp in a strained manner

"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

Other Word Forms

  • contortive adjective

Etymology

Origin of contort

1555–65; < Latin contortus twisted together, past participle of contorquēre. See con-, tort

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.