Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Twist \Twist\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Twisted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Twisting}.] [OE. twisten, AS. twist a rope, as made of two
   (twisted) strands, fr. twi- two; akin to D. twist a quarrel,
   dissension, G. zwist, Dan. & Sw. tvist, Icel. twistr the
   deuce in cards, tvistr distressed. See {Twice}, {Two}.]
   1. To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally;
      to convolve.

            Twist it into a serpentine form.      --Pope.

   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.''
      --Waller.

            There are pillars of smoke twisted about wreaths of
            flame.                                --T. Burnet.

   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. --Shak.

   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?                      --Shak.

   8. To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as, to
      twist wool or cotton.

Twisting \Twist"ing\,
   a. & n. from {Twist}.

   {Twisting pair}. (Kinematics) See under {Pair}, n., 7.

Source : WordNet®

twisting
     adj 1: having a twisting or snake-like or worm-like motion;
            "squirming boys"; "wiggly worms"; "writhing snakes"
            [syn: {squirming}, {wiggling}, {wiggly}, {wriggling},
            {wriggly}, {writhing}]
     2: marked by repeated turns and bends; "a tortuous road up the
        mountain"; "winding roads are full of surprises"; "had to
        steer the car down a twisty track" [syn: {tortuous}, {twisty},
         {winding}]
     n 1: the act of distorting something so it seems to mean
          something it was not intended to mean [syn: {distortion},
           {overrefinement}, {straining}, {torture}]
     2: the act of rotating rapidly; "he gave the crank a spin"; "it
        broke off after much twisting" [syn: {spin}, {twirl}, {twist},
         {whirl}]