Distort
[dɪ'stɔːt] or [dɪ'stɔrt]
Definition
(a.) Distorted; misshapen.
(v. t.) To twist of natural or regular shape; to twist aside physically; as, to distort the limbs, or the body.
(v. t.) To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to twist aside mentally or morally.
(v. t.) To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort passages of Scripture, or their meaning.
Edited by Benson
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Twist, writhe, wrest, contort, deform.[2]. Pervert, misrepresent, falsify, strain the sense of.
Typed by Jeanette
Definition
v.t. to turn a different way: to force out of the natural or regular shape or direction: to turn aside from the true meaning: to pervert: to misrepresent.—p.adj. Distort′ed.—n. Distor′tion a twisting out of regular shape: crookedness: perversion.—adj. Distort′ive causing distortion.
Typed by Anton
Examples
- You saw the flash, then heard the crack, then saw the smoke ball distort and thin in the wind. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- We distort a dozen sickly trees into unaccustomed shapes in a little yard no bigger than a dining room, and then surely they look absurd enough. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- To overlook this fact means to distort and pervert human nature. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Riderhood had not done the deed, but had resolved in his malice to turn against her father, the appearances that were ready to his hand to distort. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The child has specific powers; to ignore that fact is to stunt or distort the organs upon which his growth depends. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The light is a very pure white one, does not distort or falsify colors, and effects a great saving of gas. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- His handsome face was distorted with a spasm of despair, and his hands tore at his hair. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- But the trouble with them is that the psychology is weak and uninformed, distorted by moral enthusiasms, and put out without any particular reference to the task of statesmanship. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Up came the man, and his face became more frightfully distorted than ever, as he drew nearer. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- As I gained my feet the therns lowered their wicked rifles, their faces distorted in mingled chagrin, consternation, and alarm. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- It is, if you please, like the crops of a rude and forbidding soil--a coarse, distorted thing though living. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Again the man nodded his head, his face distorted by fear of the death that had been so close. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Then distorting his pockets with knobby bundles, and giving her the flowers to hold, he put up the old umbrella, and they traveled on again. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Such limitation was both distorting and corrupting. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Heat distorts articles made of potters' clay after they have been hardened by cold. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
Typed by Jack