1.To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve. "Twist it into a serpentine form."
2.Hence, to turn from the true form or meaning; to pervert; as, to twist a passage cited from an author.
3.To distort, as a solid body, by turning one part relatively to another about an axis passing through both; to subject to torsion; as, to twist a shaft.
4.To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts. "Longing to twist bays with that ivy." "There are pillars of smoke twisted about with wreaths of flame."
5.To wind into; to insinuate; used reflexively; as, avarice twists itself into all human concerns.
6.To unite by winding one thread, strand, or other flexible substance, round another; to form by convolution, or winding separate things round each other; as, to twist yarn or thread.
7.Hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up. "Was it not to this end That thou began'st to twist so fine a story?"
8.To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as, to twist wool or cotton.