contort. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

contort

SYLLABICATION:	con·tort
PRONUNCIATION:	kn-tôrt
VERB:	Inflected forms: con·tort·ed, con·tort·ing, con·torts
TRANSITIVE VERB:	To twist, wrench, or bend severely out of shape: pain that contorted their faces.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	To become twisted into a strained shape or expression. See synonyms at distort.
ETYMOLOGY:	Latin contorqure, contort-, to twist : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + torqure, to twist; see terk^w- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	con·tortion —NOUN con·tortive —ADJECTIVE


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.