distort Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story
    warp; falsify; garble.
  2. verb form into a spiral shape
    twist; twine.
    • The cord is all twisted
  3. verb twist and press out of shape
    wring; deform; contort.
  4. verb affect as in thought or feeling
    color; colour; tinge.
    • My personal feelings color my judgment in this case
    • The sadness tinged his life
  5. verb alter the shape of (something) by stress
    strain; deform.
    • His body was deformed by leprosy

WordNet

Dis*tort" adjective
Etymology
L. distortus, p. p. of distorquere to twist, distort; dis- + torquere to twist. See Torsion.
Definitions
  1. Distorted; misshapen. Obs.
    Her face was ugly and her mouth distort. Spenser.
Dis*tort" transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Distorted; present participle & verbal noun Distorting
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913