Library / English Dictionary

DISTORT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Alter the shape of (something) by stress

Example:

His body was deformed by leprosy

Synonyms:

deform; distort; strain

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "distort" is one way to...):

form; shape (give shape or form to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distort"):

jaundice (distort adversely)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story

Synonyms:

distort; falsify; garble; warp

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "distort" is one way to...):

belie; misrepresent (represent falsely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distort"):

mangle; murder; mutilate (alter so as to make unrecognizable)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

distortion (the mistake of misrepresenting the facts)

distortion (the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean)

distortion (a change (usually undesired) in the waveform of an acoustic or analog electrical signal; the difference between two measurements of a signal (as between the input and output signal))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Affect as in thought or feeling

Example:

The sadness tinged his life

Synonyms:

color; colour; distort; tinge

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "distort" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Form into a spiral shape

Example:

The cord is all twisted

Synonyms:

distort; twine; twist

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "distort" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distort"):

wrench; wring (twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish)

contort; deform; distort; wring (twist and press out of shape)

entangle; mat; snarl; tangle (twist together or entwine into a confusing mass)

enlace; entwine; interlace; intertwine; lace; twine (spin, wind, or twist together)

spin (work natural fibers into a thread)

interweave; weave (interlace by or as if by weaving)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

distortion (a shape resulting from distortion)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Twist and press out of shape

Synonyms:

contort; deform; distort; wring

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "distort" is one way to...):

distort; twine; twist (form into a spiral shape)

Verb group:

wrench; wring (twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish)

wring (twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distort"):

morph (change shape as via computer animation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

distortion (a shape resulting from distortion)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Black hole mergers generate gravitational waves because, as they orbit each other, their gravity distorts the fabric of space-time, sending ripples outward in all directions at the speed of light.

(Listening for Gravitational Waves Using Pulsars, NASA)

This created a geomagnetic disturbance, which distorted Earth’s magnetic field lines and induced an electric field on the surface.

(Space Weather Events Linked to Human Activity, NASA)

The eruption, which temporarily cooled the planet, caused sea levels to drop and effectively distorted calculations of sea level rise in subsequent decades.

(Volcanic eruption masked acceleration in sea level rise, NSF)

This was contrasted by parents who had a ‘distorted’ representation of their child, with a narrow, idealised description of their child, and incomplete or inconsistent descriptions of them.

(Mother’s attitude towards baby during pregnancy may have implications for child’s development, University of Cambridge)

His handsome face was distorted with a spasm of despair, and his hands tore at his hair.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She recoiled from it, and, with a suddenly distorted face, full of rage, dashed past him as if to enter the tomb.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“Your life for this!” said the bully, with a face which was distorted with rage.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her face was distorted and malignant with menace, even the bridge of the nose wrinkling from tip to eyes so prodigious was her snarl.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

His face was all drawn and distorted—so much so that my question was frozen upon my lips.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His lips had become distorted into a permanent snarl, which at mere sight of Wolf Larsen broke out in sound, horrible and menacing and, I do believe, unconsciously.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)