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A twisting; a writhing; wry motion; a twist; as, the contortion of the muscles of the face. Swift. All the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration. Burke.

One who makes or practices contortions.

Pain so extreme as to cause writhing or contortions of the body, similar to those made in the athletic contests in Greece; and hence, extreme pain of mind or body; anguish; paroxysm of grief; specifically, the sufferings of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly. Luke xxii. 44.…

See Contortion.

Expressing contortion.

A fantastic grimace or contortion of the body. [Obs.] Smirks and irps and all affected humors. B. Jonson .

ular posture or attitude; to contort the body into artificial attitudes, as an acrobat or contortionist; also, to pose.

To wrench; to tear; to sprain; to injure by violent straining or contortion. [R.] Dryden. "Hasting to raunch the arrow out." Spenser.

A smile, grin, or contortion of the face, indicative of contempt; an indirect expression or insinuation of contempt. "Who can refute a sneer" Raley.

A contortion, or twist. [Obs.] If you talk, Or pull your face into a stitch again, I shall be angry. Marston.

To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.

To play tricks by various movements and contortions of the body; to perform the feats of an acrobat. Rowe. To tumble home (Naut.), to incline inward, as the sides of a vessel, above the bends or extreme breadth; -- used esp. in the phrase tumbling home. Cf. Wall-sided.

The act of twisting; a contortion; a flexure; a convolution; a bending. Not the least turn or twist in the fibers of any one animal which does not render them more proper for that particular animal's way of life than any other cast or texture. Addison.

To move with short, quick contortions; to move by twisting and squirming; like a worm. Covetousness will wriggle itself out at a small hole. Fuller. Wriggling his body to recover His seat, and cast his right leg over. Hudibras.