# twist

> English word · Noun · IPA /twɪst/ · frequency rank #4,992

## Definitions
1. A twisting force.
2. Anything twisted, or the act of twisting.
3. The form given in twisting.
4. The degree of stress or strain when twisted.
5. A type of thread made from two filaments twisted together.
6. A sliver of lemon peel added to a cocktail, etc.
7. A sudden bend (or short series of bends) in a road, path, etc.
8. A distortion to the meaning of a passage or word.
9. An unexpected turn in a story, tale, etc.
10. A modern dance popular in Western culture in the late 1950s and 1960s, based on rotating the hips repeatedly from side to side. See Twist (dance) on Wikipedia for more details.
11. A rotation of the body when diving.
12. A sprain, especially to the ankle.
13. A twig.
14. A girl, a woman.
15. A roll or baton of baked dough or pastry in a twisted shape.
16. A small roll of tobacco.
17. A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together.
18. The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.
19. A beverage made of brandy and gin.
20. A strong individual tendency or bent; inclination.
21. An appetite for food.
22. Ellipsis of hair twist.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English twist, from Old English *twist, in compounds (e.g. mæsttwist (“a rope; stay”), candeltwist (“a wick”)), from Proto-Germanic *twistaz, a derivative of *twi- (“two-”) (compare also twine, between, betwixt).
Related to Saterland Frisian Twist (“discord”), Dutch twist (“twist; strife; discord”), German Low German Twist (“strife; discord”), German Zwist (“turmoil; strife; discord”), Swedish tvist (“quarrel; dispute”), Icelandic tvistur (“deuce”).
The verb is from Middle English twisten. Compare Dutch twisten, Danish tviste (“to dispute”), Swedish tvista (“to argue; dispute”).

## Easily confused with
- **twos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twist-vs-twos)
- **twit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twist-vs-twit)
- **twisty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twist-vs-twisty)
- **typist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twist-vs-typist)
- **twisted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twist-vs-twisted)
- **twister** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twist-vs-twister)
- **tit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tit-vs-twist)
- **this** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/this-vs-twist)
- **test** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/test-vs-twist)
- **twin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twin-vs-twist)
- **tilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tilt-vs-twist)
- **twat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twat-vs-twist)
- **tint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tint-vs-twist)
- **tris** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tris-vs-twist)
- **twig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twig-vs-twist)
- **tait** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tait-vs-twist)
- **trust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trust-vs-twist)
- **twice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twice-vs-twist)
- **tweet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tweet-vs-twist)
- **twins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/twins-vs-twist)

## Common misspellings (8)
`tiwst`, `ttwist`, `twisst`, `twistt`, `twits`, `twsit`, `twwist`, `wtist`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/twist