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To twist, or twist together; to turn awry; to bend; to distort; to wrest. The vertebral arteries are variously contorted. Ray. Kant contorted the term category from the proper meaning of attributed. Sir W. Hamilton.

abulary. -- Cross breeding. See under Breeding. -- Cross buttock, a particular throw in wrestling; hence, an unexpected defeat or repulse. Smollet. -- Cross country, across the country; not by the road. "The cross- country ride." Cowper. -- Cross fertilization, the fertilization of the female products of one physio…

A throw in which the wrestler turns his left side to his opponent, places his left leg across both legs of his opponent, and pulls him forward over his hip; hence, an unexpected defeat or repulse.

gh concentration of steady feeling makes men dare every thing and do anything Bagehot. To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes. The Century.

To turn form the original or plain meaning; to pervert; to wrest. Hammond.

ncompetent or unfit for service; to impair. A Christian's life is a perpetual exercise, a wrestling and warfare, for which sensual pleasure disables him. Jer. Taylor. And had performed it, if my known offense Had not disabled me. Milton. I have disabled mine estate. Shak.

To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort passages of Scripture, or their meaning.

A wresting from the true meaning. Bp. Wren.

To cause to go down; to make descend; to put down; to overthrow, as in wrestling; hence, to subdue; to bring down. [Archaic or Colloq.] "To down proud hearts." Sir P. Sidney. I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the wits, once at our house. Madame D'Arblay.

to enforce the payment of, or a yielding of; to compel to yield or to furnish; hence, to wrest, as a fee or reward when none is due; -- followed by from or of before the one subjected to exaction; as, to exact tribute, fees, obedience, etc., from or of some one. He said into them, Exact no more than that which is appo…

To wrest from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity; to wrench away (from); to tear away; to wring (from); to exact; as, to extort contributions from the vanquished; to extort confessions of guilt; to extort a promise; to extort payment of…

The act of extorting; the act or practice of wresting anything from a person by force, by threats, or by any undue exercise of power; undue exaction; overcharge.

is); -- also called tailor herring, and hickory shad. -- To try a fall, to try a bout at wrestling. Shak.

The lightest weight that can be put on the back of a horse in racing. Youatt. (c) In wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the lightest of the classes into which contestants are divided; -- in contradistinction to light weight, middle weight, and heavy weight. A feather in the cap an honour, trophy, or mark of dis…

To reduce; to throw. The sudden trip in wrestling that fetches a man to the ground. South.

To impel, drive, wrest, extort, get, etc., by main strength or violence; -- with a following adverb, as along, away, from, into, through, out, etc. It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay That scarce the victor forced the steel away. Dryden. To force the tyrant from his seat by war. Sahk. Ethelbert ordered that none sho…

use a grapple; to contend in close fight; to attach one's self as if by a grapple, as in wrestling; to close; to seize one another. To grapple with, to enter into contest with, resolutely and courageously. And in my standard bear the arms of York, To grapple with the house of Lancaster. Shak.

ed for health, defense, or diversion; -- said of games or exercises, as running, leaping, wrestling, throwing the discus, the javelin, etc.; also, pertaining to disciplinary exercises for the intellect; athletic; as, gymnastic exercises, contests, etc.

Athletic; gymnastic. [Obs.] Have they not swordplayers, and every sort Of gymnic artists, wrestlers, riders, runners Milton.

arge balls for such guns. -- Heavy metals. (Chem.) See under Metal. -- Heavy weight, in wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the heaviest of the classes into which contestants are divided. Cf. Feather weight (c), under Feather.