Warp v.

Pa. t. and pa. pple. warped. Forms: 1 weorpan, wurpan, wyrpan, 2–3 werpen, (Orm. werrpenn), 3 weorpen, wearpe, worpe(n, 3–4 warpon, 3–6 werp(e, 5 warpyn, -on, 4–6 Sc. varp, 7 Sc. worp, 3–7 warpe, 4– warp. Pa. t. sing. 1 wearp, 1 Northumb., 2–4 warp, (Orm. warrp), 3 weorp, 3–4 werp, 4–5 warpe; pl. 1 wurpon, Northumb. worpon, -un, 3 wurpen, worpen, weorpen. Pa. pple. 1, 3–5 worpen, 3 (i)worpe, Orm. worrpenn, 6 Sc. warp. Also pa. t. and pa. pple. 4–6 war-, werpid, -it, -et, 4– warped. [A Com. Teut. str. vb.: OE. weorpan (wearp, wurpon, worpen) corresponds to OFris. werpa (worp, wurpon, ewurpen), OS. werpan (warp, wurpun, worpan), Du. werpen (wierp, worpen), OHG. werfan (warf, wurfun, worfen), MHG., mod.G. werfen (warf, wurfen, geworfen), ON. verpa (varp, urpu, orpenn), Sw. verpa, Da. verpe, Goth. wairpan (warp, waurpum, waurpans); f. OTeut. root *werp- (warp-, wurp-):—pre-Teut. *werb-; the root is not found outside Teut.

  The strong conjugation did not survive in Eng. later than the 15th c.]

  I.  To cast, throw.

  † 1.  trans. To project through space; to cast, throw, fling. Obs.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., vii. § 3. Ða hine mon on þæt fyr wearp þa alysde ic hine mid heofonlicon rene.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. vii. 6. Ʒe ne wurpen eowre meregrotu toforan eowrum swinum.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 10488. & werrpenn all þe chaff anan, Inntill be fir to bærnenn.

c. 1205.  Lay., 17430. Al swa feor swa a mon mihte werpen ænne stan.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 404. Mon worpeð Grickischs fur upon his fomen.

c. 1250.  Owl & Night., 768. Mid liste me may walles felle & werpe [v.r. worpe] of horse knyhtes snelle.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 1061. He warp þe ston Ouer þe laddes euerilkon.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, ii. (Paul), 344. Sanct paulis hed eftir his discese In a depe vewar warpit was.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. 4743. Þe wardane gert his wrichtis syne Set vp richt stoutly ane ingyne, And warpit til þe toure a stan.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, I. Prol. 280. And bot my buik be fundin worth sic thre, Quhen it is red, do warp it in the se.

  † b.  with adv., as down, up, out, away. Obs.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xvii. 27. Gang to þære sæ, and wurp þinne angel ut [Vulg. mitte hamum].

c. 1200.  Ormin, 16040. Þurrh þatt he warrp ut i þe flor þe sillferr & te bordess.

c. 1205.  Lay., 5083. Awei he warp his gode breond.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 15875. His staf ful sleyly vp he warp.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, III. 642. He had bene tane but dout, Na war it that he warpyt owt All that he had, him lycht to ma.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 13412. He … warpet ouer-burde Mikill riches & relikes reft fro the toune.

  † c.  To cast (lots). Obs.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxvii. 35. Hiʓ todældon hys reaf, and wurpon hlot þær-ofer [Vulg. sortem mittentes].

c. 1205.  Lay., 15498. Þe king … bad heom leoten werpen.

  † 2.  To sprinkle, scatter (something) on (a surface). Also with out: To cause to spirt; to emit, shoot forth. Obs.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., II. 240. Dweorʓe dwostlan weorp on weallende wæter.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 41. Scodðan he him sceaude an ouen on berninde fure he warp ut of him seofe leies. Ibid., 129. Þurh þisse tacne Moyses werp ut þet welle weter of þan herda flinte.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 161. Hie wenden þe eorðe and wurpen god sad þaronne.

c. 1205.  Lay., 4518. Me warp on his nebbe cold welle watere.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 246. Ase ofte ase þe ueond assaileð ouwer castel … worpeð ut uppon him schaldinde teares.

  † 3.  With up, open, wide, on brede: To open (a gate) violently or suddenly, fling open. With to: To shut, slam. Obs.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Saints’ Lives, iii. 347. Þa com færlice mycel wynd and wearp upp þa duru.

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 1526. Þus atired he þe toune & titely þar-eftir On ilka way wid open werped he þe ȝatis. Ibid., 2142. Ȝa, werpis þam [the gates] vp … & wide open settis.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 10462. Þai wan in wightly, warpit to þe yates, Barrit hom full bigly with boltes of yerne. Ibid., 11924. When the buernes of the burgh were broght vpon slepe, He warpit vp a wicket.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, X. i. 1. On breid, or this, was warp and mayd patent The hevynly hald of God omnipotent. Ibid., XII. x. 80. Sum bad … Warp vp the portis, and wide the ȝettis cast To the Troianis.

  † b.  intr. Of a door: To open (wide, etc.).

a. 1375.  Joseph Arim., 257. He bad him lifte vp and þe lide warpes.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, VI. i. 118. Bot thow do, thir gret durris … sall nevir warp on breid. Ibid., VI. ii. 2. The hundreth gret durris … At thair awin willis warpit wyde.

  † 4.  trans. To put (a garment) on or off hastily.

13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2025. Whyle þe wlonkest wedes he warp on hym-seluen.

a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 901. Sir Arthure … Wente to hys wardrope, and warpe of hys wedez.

a. 1400.  Pistill of Susan, 124. Þe wyf werp of hir wedes vn-werde.

  † 5.  To throw down, overthrow. Usually with adv., as down, under, to ground. Obs.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 7. Þu warpest þene alde feont.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 3575. Forr Crist wass strang wiþþ hannd inoh To werrpenn dun þe deofell.

c. 1205.  Lay., 25889. Þæs bures dure he warp adun Þat heo to-barst a uiuen. Ibid., 28729. Mine wiðer-iwinnen, weorpeð heom to grunden.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2640. Ðe child it warp dun to de [read ðe] grund.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1297. The Troiens … Wondid of þe wightist, warpide hom vnder.

c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 6683. We schal of hem to grounde warpe With Swordes bryght and speres scharpe.

  † b.  Of wind: To toss or drive (a ship) violently about. Obs.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 444. As þat lyftande lome luged aboute, Where þe wynde & þe weder warpen hit wolde.

  † c.  ? To swing round, whirl. Obs.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, XI. xi. 103. And oft about hyr hed … [she] Wald warp the stringis of the stowt staf slyng.

  † 6.  fig. a. To drive out, expel, reject, renounce; usually with out, away. Also, to trample (under foot). Obs.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John vi. 37. Ic ne weorpe ut [Vulg. non eiciam foras] þone þe to me cymð.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 40. Gif me worpen mid him al þe world under vet. Ibid., 230. Þeo deoflen þet ure Louerd werp ut of one monne. Ibid., 356. Worp awei urom me alle mine gultes.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 829. Sone se ich awei warp ower witlese lei.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 5. Þeos þohtes warp ut of þin heorte.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 24247. Nu comforth þe … And werp awai þi wepe.

  † b.  To plunge (a person) suddenly or roughly (into prison, distress, etc.); to put to death. Obs.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 143. Þe sunfulle Men … sculen beon iwarpen ine eche pine.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 19608. He let bindenn himm,… & i cwarrterrne werrpenn.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 10973. Mony worthy þai woundit, & warpit to dethe.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst. xxiii. 413. Thou art warpyd all in wo.

c. 1590.  J. Stewart, Poems (S.T.S.), II. 17. Dreid of dainger varps hir in ane trans.

  † 7.  intr. To go hastily, fling away. Of wind: To rise up. Obs.

a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 2746. I rede ȝe … warpes wylily awaye.

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 557. Wild wedirs vp werpe & þe wynd ryse.

  b.  Sc. of bees: To swarm. Cf. CAST v. 22.

a. 1824.  in Mactaggart, Gallovid. Encycl., 94. The hive which warped owre the fell.

  † 8.  trans. With inversion of const.: To strike, hit, assail with (a missile). Also, to besprinkle (with a liquid). Obs.

Beowulf, 2791. He hine eft ongon wæteres weorpan.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., xvi. § 2. Þa forceaw he his tungan & wearp hine mid ðære tungan on þæt neb foran.

c. 1205.  Lay., 29562. Heo … wurpen hine mid banen.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 1121. Ȝif þu art iworpe oþer ischote.

  † 9.  transf. and fig. In various uses: To thrust (one’s hand) forth; to lay (hands) on; to cast (one’s head) down; to strike (a stroke). Obs.

a. 1225.  St. Marher., 3. As theos cnihtes walden warpen honden on hire ha bigon to cleopien ant callen þus to criste.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 83. [He] Weorpeð adun þet heaueð. Ibid., 96. Ȝif eni wurðeð so wod … þet he worpe his hond forð touward þe þurl cloð.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xxviii. 267. Þat þai suld tak þat maydin schen,… and strakis fel til hyre let warpe.

  10.  † a. To cast, shed (horns). Obs.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 325, in O. E. Misc., 11. He werpeð er hise hornes in wude er in ðornes.

  † b.  To lose (the natural hue). Obs.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 183. Among þat þe sowle witeð, þe licame worpeð hewe.

  † 11.  To utter, pronounce (a word, speech); to utter (a cry), heave (a sigh). Also with out. Also absol., to talk, speak (of). Obs.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 306. Mid tisse schulen þe uorlorene worpen a swuch ȝeor þet heouene & eorðe muwen beoðe grisliche agrisen.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 1325. Þet we ne cunnen … warpen na word aȝein.

a. 1225.  Juliana, 21. He … weorp a sic as a wiht þat sare were iwundet.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., A. 879. A note ful nwe I herde hem warpe.

13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2253. I schal stonde stylle, & warp þe no wernyng, to worch as þe lykez.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 2683. Ho … Warpet out wordes wonder to here.

c. 1420.  Wyntoun, Cron., lxxxiv. 1707 (Wemyss). Quhen þis wif had warpit þus Off this abbot Eugenyus.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, II. xi. 23. Scarslie the auld thir wordis hed warpit out. Ibid., V. viii. 116. And be abufe hym werpis sic sawis.

  † b.  To cast (one’s eyes) on or upon (an object).

c. 1200.  Ormin, 12758. Crist warrp eȝhe upponn Symon.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 52. Hwoso heuede iseid to Eue þeo heo werp hire eien þerone, A! wend te awei; þu worpest eien o þi deað.

  12.  dial. a. To lay (eggs). Also absol. [So ON. verpa.]

a. 1340.  Hampole, Psalter xc. 13. Þe snake werpis and þe tade nuryssis þe eg, and þarof is broght forth þe basilyske.

1483.  Cath. Angl., 409/1. To Warpe as byrdis dose, jncubare, ponere oua.

1570.  Levins, Manip., 33/6. To warp an egge, ouum ponere.

1787.  Grose, Prov. Gloss., Warp, to lay eggs. A hen warps or warys. N.

1825.  Brockett, N. C. Words, s.v., A hen is said to warp when she lays.

  b.  To bring forth (young) naturally. rare. (In quot. absol.)

1738.  G. Smith, Cur. Relat., II. 453. They [beavers] don’t warp in their Houses, but in Hollows dug under Ground.

  c.  Of a ewe, cow, etc.: To bring forth (young), prematurely; to cast, slip, drop. Also absol.

a. 1722.  Lisle, Husb. (1757), 283. A cow, that … warps her calf three months before her time. Ibid., 310. If the ewes warped, they turned them out to the rams again.

1813.  T. Rudge, Agric. Glouc., 297. Cows are liable to slip or warp their calves.

1903.  Athenæum, 7 March, 307/3. It turned out that that season’s lambing proved very disastrous—never had so many ewes been known to warp.

  II.  To bend, twist aside.

  13.  To bend, curve or twist (an object) out of shape; spec. to curve (timber) by the application of steam; also, to distort, contort (the body or a limb, the features).

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 798. Al to-wraiste þai þar wode & werpis in-sondire.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 517/1. Warpyn’, or make wronge, curvo.

1593.  Nashe, Christ’s T., P 1 b. Age will … warpe our backs.

1648.  Herrick, Hesp., Paneg. Sir L. Pemberton, 9. Laden spits, warp’t with large Ribbs of Beefe.

1665.  Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Wars, 419. As in some places, the violence of Heat; so in other, the extremity of Cold, hath often warped Nature, and made it become deformed.

1742.  Jarvis, 2nd Pt. Quixote, II. x. II. 219. If perchance the rod of justice be warped a little, let it not be by the weight of a gift, but by that of mercy.

1799.  Naval Chron., I. 288. The method was introduced of warping planks to the timbers by the means of steam.

1835.  W. Irving, Tour Prairies, xxvii. 244. Baring his left arm, he showed it warped and contracted by a former attack of rheumatism.

1847.  C. Brontë, Jane Eyre, xx. A singularly marked expression of disgust, horror, hatred, warped his countenance almost to distortion.

1849.  Miss Mulock, Ogilvies, xxi. Trying to bend it straight, as he would a tree which wrong culture had warped aside.

1876.  Miss Broughton, Joan, I. I. i. 8. A book with its back still warm and warped from having been held over the fire gapes half open on the table.

1896.  Conan Doyle, Rodney Stone, xxi. Age had warped and cracked the boards.

  fig.  1662.  Petty, Taxes & Contrib., 9. I descend no lower, wishing onely that there might be an universal Reformation of what length of time hath warped awry.

  14.  intr. To become bent, twisted, or uneven, by shrinkage or contraction. Said esp. of timber. (Cf. CAST v. 53.)

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 517/1. Warpyn’, or wex wronge or avelonge, as vesselle, oblongo.

1530.  Palsgr., 772/1. I warpe, as bordes do, whan they croke for want of good seasonnyng.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. 106. The Elme … is meete for the cheekes and postes of Gates,… for it wyll not bowe, nor warpe.

1657.  Trapp, Comm. Esther ii. 2. Green wood is ever shrinking and warping.

1783.  Justamond, trans. Raynal’s Hist. Indies, III. 159. If the pieces … are thicker … on one side than another,… they will warp to that side.

1815.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 37. Cast iron, when annealed, is less liable to warp by a subsequent partial exposure to moderate degrees of heat.

1826.  Scott, Woodstock, ii. Old wood seldom warps in the wetting.

1881.  Young, Every Man his own Mechanic, § 46. 23. Black Ebony … will not warp readily.

  b.  fig., or in fig. context. (Cf. 19.)

1599.  Marston, Antonio’s Rev., V. vi. You are well seasond props, And will not warpe, or leane to either part.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., III. iii. 90. This fellow wil but ioyne you together, as they ioyne Wainscot, then one of you wil proue a shrunke pannell, and like greene timber, warpe, warpe.

1682.  Flavel, Fear, 44. It would make them warp and bend under such temptations.

1690.  Locke, Hum. Und., I. iii. § 20. It being all one, to have no Rule, and one that will warp any way.

1736.  Lediard, Life Marlborough, I. 58. To set that Law streight again, which he had made to warp to his Prince’s Humour.

1874.  C. E. Norton, Lett. (1913), II. 33. I, too, warp and crack in this dry, clear atmosphere.

  15.  trans. To contract, cause to shrink or shrivel, corrugate. rare.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., II. vii. 187. Freize, freize, thou bitter skie … Though thou the waters warpe, thy sting is not so sharpe, as freind remembred not.

1875.  B. Taylor, Faust, I. ii. 46. Then from the East they come, to dry and warp Your lungs.

  b.  intr. To shrink or shrivel, become contracted or wrinkled. Also fig. rare.

1579.  Gosson, Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 61. You must keepe your sweete faces from scorching in the sun, chapping in the winde, and warping with the weather.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., I. ii. 365. Me thinkes My fauor here begins to warpe.

1696.  Tutchin, Pindarick Ode, ii. 10.

  16.  trans. (fig.) To pervert, distort (the mind, judgment, principles, etc.); to give a ‘twist’ or bias to; to turn (aside) from rectitude or the straight path.

1599.  B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., IV. i. (1601), G 1 b. Me thinkes thy seruant Hedon is nothing so obsequious to thee, as he was wont to be: I know not how, Hee’s growne out of his Garbe a-late, hee’s warp’t.

1700.  Dryden, Sigism. & Guisc., 402. Nor Folly warp’d my Mind, Nor the frail Texture of the Female Kind Betray’d my Vertue.

1710.  Addison, Whig-Exam., No. 4, ¶ 4. I have no private considerations to warp me in this controversy.

1718.  Dk. Buckhm., Lett. to Pope, Wks. 1723, II. 289. Suffering their judgments to be a little warped (if I may use that expression) by the heat of their eager inclinations.

1725.  Watts, Logic, II. iv. Watch against every Temptation that might bribe your Judgment, or warp it aside from Truth.

1852.  Smedley, L. Arundel, xxvii. 205. These two men, each warped and hardened differently … by the world’s evil influence.

1879.  M. Arnold, Fr. Crit. Milton, Mixed Ess., 252. Johnson’s mind … was at many points bounded, at many points warped.

1884.  A. R. Pennington, Wiclif, Pref. pp. viii.–ix. He often allows his prejudice against Wiclif to warp his judgment.

1919.  C. Goring, Eng. Convict, i. 10. The science of criminology, we contend, has been, up to the present, warped by its subjection to all kinds of superstitious and conventional dogmas.

  b.  Const. from, out of; to, into.

1650.  B., Discolliminium, 17. He that is warp’d in his Divinity, will never be at rest till he hath wrap’d [? read warp’d] his Policy to it.

1685.  Dryden, Threnod. August., 322. Not Faction,… Not Foreign or Domestick Treachery, Could Warp thy Soul to their Unjust Decree.

a. 1711.  Ken, Poet. Wks. (1868), 272. My treacherous heart I fear, Warp’d to the world.

1758–65.  Goldsm., Ess., Taste (Globe), 315/2. By the present mode of education we are forcibly warped from the bias of nature.

1768–74.  Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), II. 628. There is such perpetual danger from all quarters of having the moral sense warped to a false direction.

1796.  Bp. Watson, Apol. Bible, 379. Some men have been warped to infidelity by viciousness of life.

1842.  Tennyson, Locksley Hall, 60. Cursed be the social lies that warp us from the living truth!

1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., xxxv. Jarndyce and Jarndyce has warped him out of himself, and perverted me in his eyes.

1857.  Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, ii. § 97. The bribe of wealth and honour warps him from his honest labour into efforts to attract attention.

1882.  ‘Ouida,’ In Maremma, viii. This narrowness of the peasant mind which … demagogues … warp to their own selfish purpose and profits.

  17.  To distort, wrest, misinterpret, give a false coloring to (a fact, account, etc.). Const. from, to, into.

1717.  Bentley, Serm. bef. K. Geo., 19. Those that interpret all actions of their Governors; that warp the most innocent Occurrences to Censure and Calumny.

1741.  Watts, Improv. Mind, I. viii. In matters of dispute, take heed of warping the sense of the … writer to your own opinion.

1775.  De Lolme, Const. Eng., I. x. (1784), 102. Writs, being warped from their actual meaning.

1780.  Cowper, Progr. Err., 437. The worst is—Scripture warp’d from its intent.

1816.  Scott, Old Mort., xxvii. While … you, Mr Poundtext, were warping the Scriptures into Erastianism.

1830.  D’Israeli, Chas. I., III. x. 218. Probably … both [accounts] are warped by the opposite feelings of the writers.

1857.  Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, § 8. We have warped the word ‘economy’ in our English language into a meaning which it has no business whatever to bear.

a. 1872.  Maurice, Friendship Bks., xiii. (1874), 381. A … spirit which would not suffer us to pervert or warp any documents to suit a purpose of ours.

  b.  intr. Of a statement: To become distorted.

1914.  H. Newbolt, in Blackw. Mag., July, 48/2. Whether all this be true I cannot tell, but as I guess it is an old report that has warped in wandering.

  18.  trans. To turn aside or divert (a moving body) from its path or orbit. Also, to deflect, change the direction of (one’s journey). rare.

1725.  Pope, Odyss., IV. 103. Then [I] warp my voyage on the southern gales.

1814.  Cary, Dante, Parad., i. 130. As from a cloud the fire is seen to fall, From its original impulse warp’d, to earth.

1837.  Emerson, Amer. Schol., Wks. (Bohn), II. 178. I had better never see a book, than to be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit.

  b.  intr. To turn or incline in a (specified) direction. rare.

1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 67. There being no more reason why it [an arrow] should warp to the right hand than to the left, why this way rather than that, it must needs stir no way.

1684–94.  trans. Plutarch’s Mor. (1718), III. 16. But as she [the Moon] warps back again to meet her Illustrious Mate, the nearer she makes her approach, the more she is eclipsed until no longer seen.

  † 19.  fig. (Cf. 14 b, 16.) To receive a ‘twist’ or bias, which influences one’s judgment or sentiments; to turn from the straight path; to deviate, swerve, go astray. Const. from. Obs.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., I. i. 15. There is our Commission, From which, we would not haue you warpe.

1642.  D. Rogers, Naaman, 550. If we feele … that our hearts warpe from Gods commands.

1642.  Milton, Apol. Smect., 34. He fals off again warping and warping till he come to contradict himselfe in diameter.

1681.  Baxter, Apol. Nonconf. Min., Pref. p. ii. Learned men, when they warp and err.

1738.  Neal, Hist. Purit., IV. 211. Any single officer that should hereafter warp from his obedience.

1748.  Hartley, Observ. Man, I. iii. § 5. 384. A pleasurable or painful State of the Stomach or Brain, Joy or Grief, will make all the Thoughts warp their own way, little or much.

1791.  Burke, Th. French Aff., Wks. 1842, I. 574. Amongst them there are no leaders possessed of an influence for any other purpose but that of maintaining the present state of things. The moment they are seen to warp, they are reduced to nothing.

a. 1817.  T. Dwight, Trav. (1822), IV. 314. He [Edwards] never warped from the path of common sense.

  † b.  To be biassed, incline, lean, be drawn or attracted (to, towards). Also, to bend, submit, yield (to); to submit to do something. Obs.

a. 1592.  Greene, Jas. IV., I. 654. I can no more; my patience will not warpe To see these flatterers how they scorne and Carpe.

1624.  Gee, Foot out of Snare, xi. 71. A Gentlewoman … that was well inclining and warping toward the Popish pale.

1643.  Plain English, 17. How miserably will you find the … Clergie wraping [read warping] to the prevailing party.

a. 1661.  Fuller, Worthies, Lond. (1662), 222. Others more truly tax him [Chamnee], for warping to the Will of King Henry the eighth, not so much to decline his own death, as to preserve his Covent from destruction.

a. 1677.  Barrow, Serm., Wks. 1716, II. 27. Men generally do sute their opinions to their inclinations; warping to that side where their interest doth lie.

1772.  J. Fletcher, Logica Genev., 34. Our Church, far from warping to Crispianity, strongly inforces St. James’s undefiled religion.

  III.  To weave, twine.

  20.  trans. † a. To weave (a web). Obs. b. To arrange (threads, yarn) so as to form a warp; to wind on a warp-beam. Also absol.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 467, in O. E. Misc., 15. Ðe spinnere … werpeð ðus hire web, and weueð on hire wise.

c. 1340.  Nominale (Skeat), 336. Homme poet teil perer. M[an] may a webbe warpe.

c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, II. cxxiii. (1869), 121. It is furred with fox skynnes in lengthe and in brede, al be it with oute wouen mand, and worpen of the wulle of white sheep.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 517/1. Warpon’, as webstarys, stamino, licio.

1483.  Cath. Angl., 409/1. To Warpe A web, protelare.

1540.  Hyrde, trans. Vives’ Instr. Chr. Wom., I. iii. (1541), 3 b. To spinne, to warpe, or els wynd spindels in a case for to throw wofe of.

1556.  Phaër, Æneid, IV. (1558), K j. Her self the web had wrought, & warpyd fine with wreath of gold.

1598.  Florio, Ordire, to warpe or lay as weauers do their webbs before it be wouen.

1662.  Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887), 240. The saids proveist, baillies and councill … discharges them … from litting any plaid yairn, and from worping and working any that shall not be of the lenth and breidth abone writtin.

1788.  Burns, ‘My heart was ance,’ ii. My mither sent me to the town, To warp a plaiden wab.

1844.  G. Dodd, Textile Manuf., i. 42. The yarn is dressed, beamed, and warped by steam-power.

1879.  Ashenhurst, Weaving, 50. The yarn … may be warped direct from the cop or bobbin upon which it has been spun.

  † c.  fig. To weave, contrive, devise. Also with up, and absol.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), V. 365. He answerde … þat he wolde warpe suche a webbe to the emperise [talem se telam Augustae orditurum], þat sche schulde nevere have it of to here lyves ende.

c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, IV. viii. (1869), 179. And alwey he werpeth temptaciouns and breideth þem, and weueth hem.

1549–62.  Sternhold & Hopkins, Ps. lii. 2. Why doth thy minde yet still deuise, such wicked wiles to warpe?

1577.  Hellowes, Gueuara’s Chron., 393. I haue warpt such a webb, as thou neither knowest to vnframe, or mayst cut off when it is finished.

1604.  E. Hake, in Farr, S. P. Jas. I. (1847), 256. All these are but the loome That warpeth up my death.

1611.  Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., IX. xxiv. § 22. Like a wise man, that meant to warpe no more then he could well weaue.

1616.  S. S., Honest Lawyer, III. E 4. We’ll trie what mischeefes he can warpe.

1652.  Urquhart, Jewel, Wks. (1834), 198. Before the contexture of another universal language [than mine] can be warped.

1785.  Burns, 2nd Ep. J. Lapraik, viii. Ne’er mind how Fortune waft an’ warp.

  21.  a. Rope-making. To stretch (yarn) into lengths to be tarred.

1815.  Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), To Warp Yarn, in rope-making, is to stretch the yarns, previous to their being tarred, all to one given length.

1846.  G. Dodd, Brit. Manuf., Ser. VI. 197. The reels of yarn are first ‘warped’ into a ‘haul,’ that is, the yarns are unwound from the reel, stretched out straight and parallel, and assembled together.

  b.  To weave, twine (a willow-basket). dial.

1806.  J. Grahame, Birds Scot., I. 67. He … warps the skep with willow rind.

  c.  To lace together (the ends of a seine). dial.

1835.  J. Couch, in 3rd Rep. R. Cornw. Polytechn. Soc., 74. While the larger boats are engaged in warping the ends together.

  † 22.  To twist, entwine, insert (something into something else). Also fig.; also, to unite or combine with. Obs.

1803.  W. Taylor, in Ann. Rev., I. 256. The public papers and fragments of oratory warped into its text, are selected with taste.

1814.  Scott, Wav., xvi. A scathed tree, which had warped its twisted roots into the fissures of the rock. Ibid. (1821), Kenilw., xxii. I care not for all those strings of pearl, which you fret me by warping into my tresses.

1822.  A. Ranken, Hist. France, IX. 13. With this proposal … was warped … the condition, that the regent, who entertained strong prejudices against the Jesuits, should become their friend and protector.

  23.  Angling. To fasten (the materials of an artificial fly) to the hook. With adv., as on, in, down, up.

1676.  Cotton, Angler, II. v. 40. Warp them so down, as to stand, and slope towards the bend of the hook, and having warpt up to the end of the shanck [etc.]. Ibid., II. viii. 73. When you warp on your dubbing. Ibid., II. viii. 78. Some red warpt in for the Tagg of his tail.

1836.  Ronalds, Fly-Fisher’s Entom., 29. Warp the remnant round the shank.

1867.  F. Francis, Bk. Angling, xiii. (1880), 465. The silk must be warped up from the tail to required spot. Ibid., 466. When the body is being warped on.

  † 24.  To surround, involve, infold in, with. Obs.

  But perhaps a metathetic form of WRAP.

14[?].  Medical MS., in Anglia, XIX. 79. Ȝif on hyde hymself in a busch þer-of, or ellys he be warpyd weel in his lewys & his braunchys, no thonder nor leuene schall hym towchyn.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, I. iii. 33. Lyke as ane wall with sand warpit about. Ibid., V. xiii. 24. His awin heid warpit with a snod olive.

  IV.  To tow; to move gradually forward.

  25.  Naut. To move (a ship) along by hauling on a rope or ‘warp.’ Also with adv., as out, off, in, round.

1513.  [see WARPING vbl. sb. 4].

1587.  T. Sanders, Voy. Tripoli, B j b. Then went we to warpe out the Ship.

1600.  Holland, Livy, XXII. xx. 444. Those [ships] they drew up, and warped into the deepe, with ropes fastened to their poupes.

1624.  Capt. J. Smith, Virginia, IV. 128. Seeing them warp themselues to windward, we thought it not good to be boorded on both sides at an anchor.

1726.  Shelvocke, Voy. round World, 189. The water being smooth I soon warp’d her off again.

1791.  Smeaton, Edystone Lightho., § 250. We let go an anchor and warped the buss to her proper birth.

1836.  Macgillivray, Trav. Humboldt, xvii. 236. When the current was too strong, the sailors leapt out and warped the boat along.

1870.  Morris, Earthly Par., I. I. 292. About the capstan did the shipmen run, Warping the great ship to the harbour mouth.

1882.  [Lees & Clutterbuck], Three in Norway, 3. We were warped out of dock about eight o’clock.

  b.  absol. Also intr. of a ship: To move by warping.

a. 1547.  Surrey, Æneid, IV. 791. Out of the rode sone shall the vessell warpe.

1580.  H. Smith, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 470. At 3. in the afternoone we did warpe from one piece of ice to another.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., II. 158. The Fleete with much difficulty warped in, and recovered the Harbour.

1748.  Anson’s Voy., II. xiii. 272. As there was but little wind,… they were obliged to warp out of the harbour.

1753.  Hanway, Trav. (1762), I. II. xxi. 94. They warp thirty … miles in a day against the stream.

1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, xv. Its width is so contracted at one point, indeed, that they [sc. steamboats] are obliged to warp round by means of a rope.

1843.  Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., VI. 139/1. Two large transporting buoys … for vessels to moor to or warp from.

1858.  Times, 30 Nov., 4/3. The current gets strong, too strong for sailing vessels, which could only warp up.

1913.  World, 25 Feb., 279/1. As she warped slowly from the quay.

  c.  To warp one’s way.

1836.  Uncle Philip’s Convers. Whale Fishery, 192. After … warping their way with great danger from lane to lane of open water, they at last reached a long sheet of ice.

1853.  Kane, Grinnell Exp., x. (1856), 73. We commenced … to warp our way through the impacted ice.

  26.  To progress slowly or with effort by using the hands as well as the feet. Also refl., to haul oneself along.

1796.  Hist. Ned Evans, IV. 32. Having fastened another rope round his body for security,… he warped along the first over the chasm.

1849.  Kingsley, Misc. (1859), II. 292. I recollect our literally warping ourselves down to the beach, holding on by rocks and posts.

1851.  Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunters, vii. 58. He slowly warped himself through the gay crowd.

1854.  H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., v. (1857), 88. My rough garments … frayed, at times,… by warping to the tops of great trees, and by feats as a cragsman.

1859.  H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, xlviii. The first mate, coming forward, warping himself from one belaying-pin to another.

  27.  intr. To float or whirl through the air. Chiefly poet.

1565.  in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1883), I. 108. The snow driving and warping to and fro.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 341. A pitchy cloud Of Locusts, warping on the Eastern Wind.

1728–46.  Thomson, Spring, 120. Oft, engender’d by the hazy north, Myriads on myriads, insect armies warp Keen in the poison’d breeze.

1828.  Blackw. Mag., XXIII. 102. What clouds of ephemeral children are for ever warping away on the wind of death!

1856.  Bryant, Hymn of Sea, 10. A hundred realms Watch its broad shadow warping on the wind.

  V.  † 28. trans. To run (a ship) aground, fix on a shoal or sand-bank. Obs.

1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 634. As that the flude come rynnand by the land, Amang tha schippis warpit in the sand.

a. 1661.  Sand-warpt: [see SAND sb.² 10.]

  29.  To choke up (a channel) with with alluvial deposit. Also intr., to become choked up.

1745.  Beverley Beck Act, ii. 2. The said beck being now in very great danger of being choaked and warped up.

1799.  A. Young, Agric. Lincoln, 284. In case the drains should warp up at any time, provision of sluices is made to let water out of the canal into either, to scour them out clean. Ibid., 287. The rivers warp up in dry seasons to a great height, with a muddy sand or silt, which the tides deposite.

1876.  Whitby Gloss., Sand-warped, silted up, or choked with sand.

1878.  Miller & Skertchly, Fenland, vii. 193. A new sluice was erected for the purpose of warping up the old channel.

  b.  To heap up (sand) by gradual deposit from a current. ? Obs. Also, to cause (sand) to be heaped up.

1674.  Marvell, Corr., Wks. 1872–5, II. 422. Our House … desiring you to sound once again whether the Sand do continue as when the Captains last surveyed, or it be warped up higher.

1841.  Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., IV. 395/1. He has lately been occupied in forming a defence, by warping silt, with whin or gorse kids, laid horizontally.

  30.  To cover (land), by natural or artificial flooding, with a deposit of alluvial soil. Cf. WARP sb. 6.

1799.  A. Young, Agric. Lincoln, 278. They are attempting to warp 400 acres in one piece.

1805.  R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 436. The main canal may be cut … so as to warp the lands on each side of it.

1839.  Stonehouse, Axholme, 37. Drains to flood and warp the land.

1867.  Good Words, 306/1. The mud caught by it soon ‘warps’ the space within into firm and rich dry land.

  absol.  1799.  A. Young, Agric. Lincoln, 284. If a landlord warp, it should be deep at once; if a tenant, shallow, and repeat it.

1828.  Trial of W. Dyon, 22. He was warping with his son from four … o’clock.