Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Displaying 2 result(s) from the 1913 edition:

Distort (Page: 435)

Dis*tort" (?), a. [L. distortus, p. p. of distorquere to twist, distort; dis- + torquere to twist. See Torsion.] Distorted; misshapen. [Obs.]

Her face was ugly and her mouth distort. Spenser.

Distort (Page: 435)

Dis*tort", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Distorting.]

1. To twist of natural or regular shape; to twist aside physically; as, to distort the limbs, or the body.

Whose face was distorted with pain. Thackeray.

2. To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to twist aside mentally or morally.

Wrath and malice, envy and revenge, do darken and distort the understandings of men. Tillotson.

3. To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort passages of Scripture, or their meaning. Syn. -- To twist; wrest; deform; pervert.