Forms: 4–6 twyst, -e, 4–7 twiste, (5 twest, tweeste, 5–6 twys, 6 tweyste, Sc. tuist), 4– twist. [Related to TWIST v., and presenting similar obscurities of history (except in senses directly derived from the verb). Sense 1 may be related to the OE. -twist which appears in candel-twist glossing L. emunctoria, and mæst-twist glossing L. parastates. Sense 2 corresponds to ON. kvistr (Norw. and Da. kvist, Sw. qvist), which may ultimately be from the same stem: Kilian also gives a Flemish twist ‘rami abscissi, ramalia.’ To sense 4 the only parallel appears to be Kilian’s ‘twist i. twijn, filum duplex, retortum,’ the genuineness of which as a Flemish word is doubtful. (G. twist, cotton-twist, is from English.) In English there is no sense corresponding to MDu. and Du., MLG. and LG. twist (hence Da. and Sw. tvist), MHG. and G. zwist discord, dissension.]
I. A divided object or part.
† 1. The flat part of a hinge, fastened on a door or gate, and turning on a hook or pintle fixed in the post: = BAND sb.1 3. Obs.
1350–1. in J. R. Magrath, Obituary Bk. Queen’s Coll., Oxf., 67. Recepta de dono Willelmi Muscham xvijs pro twystes portarum.
1388. Wyclif, Amos viii. 3. And the herris [gloss ether twistis; Vulg. cardines] of the temple schulen greetli sowne in that dai.
1388–9. Abingdon Rolls (Camden), 54. In hokis, twystis, et clauis, xij d. Ibid. (1404–5), 69. In j hacche cum j twyste et opere ij s.
14[?]. Beryn, 478. The Pardonere … went to have fond þe dor vp by þe haspe; & eke þe twist Held hym out a whils, & þe lok also.
1491–2. in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 40. Twistes and hokes necessary vnto the Wedyr Dorys.
1529. Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.), 145. Ye levys of ye wyndowes in ye Church-howse, with hookys, twystys, and haspys.
1545. Croscombe Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.), 44. Paid for a tweyste and naylys and greffe, iiid. Paid for greffe thred and silke, iiid.
c. 1568. in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 114. iiij pere of twysse and ij pere of hookes.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 71. Smith, for locks, hooks, and twists, latches, etc.
† 2. A twig; a branch. Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 1181 (1230). As a-bowte a tre with many a twyste [v.rr. twist, -e] Bytrent and wryþe the soote wode bynde.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VII. 188. The kyng … had drede of thai thre men…. Tharfor he slepit as foul on twist.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Merch. T., 1905. On his bak she stood And caughte hire by a twiste, and vp she gooth.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., xxxiii. On the small[e] grene twistis sat The lytill suete nyghtingale.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 360/2. Þis man happend to be smyten in þe ee with a twyste, so þat he mot not se.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. i. 58. Ane vihir smale twist of a tree I chesit.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., I. (1879), 76. So long as a sprigge, twist, or braunche, is yong, it is flexible and bowable.
1622. W. Whateley, God’s Husb., II. 2. The cutting off from the branches such vnprofitable and ouergrowing twists,… as doe no way benefit the branch.
3. The part of anything at which it divides or branches; spec. the junction of the thighs, the fork; now (exc. arch.) only that of sheep and cattle.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxxi. (Bodl. MS.). Þe boones of the rybbes … beth ybounde togedres in þe twiste of þe breest.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 504/2. Twest, or twyste, of þe eye (H., P. tweeste of the iye), hirquus [cf. 1677 Coles, Lat. Dict., Hirquus, the corner of the eye].
1572. J. Jones, Bathes Buckstone, 13 b. The one apply vnder the arme holes, and the other in the twyste.
1575. Turberv., Venerie, 36. Split one of his forefeete from the twiste of the cleas unto the ioynte of the foote.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 509. Bowes are requisite to remove them [squirrels] when they rest in the twists of trees.
1611. Cotgr., Fourcheure … that part of the bodie from whence the thighes doe part; I thinke we call it the Twist.
a. 1668. Davenant, Siege, III. i. If thou dost grin I’ll cleave thee from the Scalp, unto the Twist.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. ii. 25. I took him by surprise with my arm under his twist.
1799. A. Young, Agric. Lincoln., 359. The gambrels of the hind legs rather inclining inwards, and the twist fat.
1831. Sutherland Farm Rep., 82, in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb., III. The breast and twist much narrower than to all appearance was compatible with so broad a carcase.
1882. Stevenson, New Arab. Nts. (1901), 97/2. If I had my hand under your twist I would send you flying.
1899. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., March, 7. The breast, flank, and twist [of a bull] of great size.
† b. transf. See quot. Obs.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Twist,… the Hollow on the inside of the Thigh;… among Carpenters it is taken for a piece of Timber otherwise call’d the Girder.
1823. Crabb, Technol. Dict., Twist, another name for a girder.
II. The twisting of threads into a cord, and derived senses.
4. Thread or cord composed of two or more fibers or filaments of hemp, silk, wool, cotton, or the like, wound round one another; often with defining word, as silk, woollen, cotion, gold or silver twist.
1555. Eden, Decades, 200. The other [cord] is grosser lyke the wycke or twyste of hempe.
1558. in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Eliz. (1908), 93. iiiior oz. di. silke twyste.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 461. Ne to weare garments base of wollen twist, But with the finest silkes us to aray.
1601. J. Wheeler, Treat. Comm., 110. White veluet ierkins cut, imbroidered with siluer twist.
1674. Essex Papers (Camden), I. 277. Rolling up Wooll into great Twist, & so passing it as Yarne.
1762. Goldsm., Cit. W., liv. His coat was trimmed with tarnished twist.
c. 1850. Arab. Nights (Rtldg.), 306. A small silk purse … tied with a piece of twist.
b. spec. (a) in Cotton-spinning, warp yarn, which is more twisted in spinning, and stronger than (b) fine silk thread used by tailors, hatters, etc. With pl., a kind of this.
1805. East, Rep., V. 175. The Battiers received orders from abroad for cotton twist.
1825. C. M. Westmacott, Engl. Spy, I. 265. Buttons, twist, and small ware.
1851. L. D. B. Gordon, Art Jrnl. Illustr. Catal., p. vi**/2. Twist is the term usually applied to the kind of yarn used for cotton warp; organzine to that for silk warp.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Miner’s Right, xxxi. A small piece of silk thread, known by tailors as ‘twist’
1891. Daily News, 18 Nov., 2/7. Wefts are still more pressed for sale than twists.
5. A cord, thread, or the like, formed by twisting, spinning, or plaiting; in quot. 1872, a conical bag or wrapper made by twisting a piece of paper, a ‘cornet’ or ‘screw.’
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. IV. Handie-crafts, 293. On either horn a three-fold twist he tyd Of Osiar twigs.
1603. B. Jonson, Jas. I’s Entertainm., Wks. (Rtldg.), 529/1. She … sits weaving certain small silver twists.
1607. Shaks., Cor., V. vi. 96. Breaking his Oath and Resolution, like A twist of rotten Silke.
1662. Gerbier, Princ., 5. Twists of Hair on both sides of their Cheeks.
1700. Dryden, Ovid’s Met., XII. 198. About his chin the twist He ty’d, and soon the strangl’d soul dismiss’d.
1740. Cheyne, Regimen, 151. To suppose the Nerves to be … membranous Tubes, Twists or Ropes.
1791. Cowper, Odyss., XVII. 238. His tatter’d wallet o’er his back…, suspended by a leathern twist.
1859. Tennyson, Vivien, 70. A twist of gold was round her hair.
1872. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 127/2. A twist of newspaper, holding salt, was next placed on the table.
1906. Alice Werner, Natives Brit. Centr. Afr., viii. 206. A few leaves, or a twist of grass, are put on the top to keep the water from spilling.
b. Naut. Each of the strands of which a rope consists. Also to spin a twist (fig.): see quot. 1867.
c. 1635. Capt. N. Boteler, Dial. Sea Services (1685), 192. The ends of the Strands or several Twists, are with a Fidd drawn into the ends of the other Ropes Strands, and this is called a Splice.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Bb ij b. The twists or strands of a rope.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Spin a Twist or a Yarn, to tell a long story; much prized in a dreary watch, if not tedious.
† 6. fig. The continuation or course of life figured as a thread; cf. THREAD sb. 6 a. Obs.
1568. T. Howell, Arb. Amitie (1879), 25. For thin is twist or fatall threed, on mortall wheele so spun. Ibid. (1581), Deuises (1879), 197. But when the twyste of this our tyme is wownde, No meanes by man may serue the same to stretch.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 48. Cruell Atropos … cutting the twist in twaine.
1614. Gorges, Lucan, VI. 254 The Fatall sisters three,… their spinning twists did guide.
1638. Ford, Fancies, IV. i. ’Tis in my power to cut off The twist thy life is spun by.
7. In other figurative applications, e.g., a slight or weak support upon which something depends; a means of tracing one’s way in a labyrinth; an intimate union or connection; the composition or substance of something figured as being spun.
1580. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 458. Vpon what a twist they hang that now are in honour.
1633. G. Herbert, Temple, Pearl, iv. Through the labyrinths … thy silk twist let down from heav’n to me, Did both conduct and teach me.
1660. Charac. Italy, 90. Nor doth her incolumity depend upon the slender twist of the life of one single person.
1675. Baxter, Cath. Theol., I. 54. Here is a wonderful inseparable twist; and in the main an Identity.
a. 1734. North, Exam., II. v. § 151 (1740), 410. We must necessarily have to do with him, because the Author has so taken him into his Twist, that we cannot baulk him.
8. A beverage consisting of a mixture of two liquors or ingredients, as tea and coffee, gin and brandy, etc.: see quots. slang.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Twist, half Tea, half Coffee.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 317, ¶ 19. Coffee-house. Read the News. A Dish of Twist.
1725. New Cant. Dict., Twist, half Tea, half Coffee: Likewise Brandy and Eggs mixed. Hot-pot. Also to Eat; as To Twist lustily; To feed like a Farmer.
1823. ‘Jon Bee,’ Slang, Gin-twist, hot water and gin, with sugar and lemon-juice, or orange ditto.
1826, 1849. [see GIN sb.2 2].
9. Tobacco made into a thick cord; a piece or ‘length’ of this. Cf. PIGTAIL 1 a.
1791. W. Bartram, Carolina, 499. I distributed my presents, giving him a very fine hankerchief and a twist of choice Tobacco.
1808. Pike, Sources Mississ. (1810), II. 121. The prize offered to the successful person was a jacket and a twist of tobacco.
1809. A. Henry, Trav., 315. Tobacco … fetched one beaver-skin per foot of Spencer’s twist.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xl[i]v. Gang down to the Clachan and bring me up a pennyworth of twist.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, iii. Cakes of cavendish, twists of negrohead, and coils of pigtail.
1886. Hall Caine, Son of Hagar, III. i. Wot’s to prevent me having a screw of twist on the strength of it?
1909. J. Stark, Priest Gordon of Aberdeen, ii. 22. I tried the daily use of small twist.
10. A small loaf made of one or more twisted rolls of dough; a small twisted roll of bread.
a. 1845. Hood, Love has not Eyes, iv. Though she’s all so much awry, she can only eat a twist!
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., xix. Dainty new bread, crusty twists, cool fresh butter.
1893. Earl Dunmore, Pamirs, I. 274. Three or four different sorts of bread, round balls, chupatties, twists [etc.].
11. Stringy india-rubber in the crude state made up in lumps like balls of cord.
1909. in Cent. Dict. Suppl.
III. Senses denoting chiefly the action of the verb.
12. An act or the action of turning on or as on an axis; a turn; a twirl; the condition of being twisted or turned in this way; rotary motion, spin.
1576. Gascoigne, Grief of Joye, i. Wks. (Roxb.), II. 265. The strongest thryd yt ever yet was sponne … Is nockthrowen yet even with ye spindles twyst.
1762. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, V. v. Bending her head a little downwards, with a twist of her neck.
1799. A. Young, Agric. Lincoln., 151. It is gathered by hand, grasping the leaves of the plants, and taking them off with a twist.
1826. Samouelle, Direct. Collect. Insects & Crust., 63. The net should be of such a length, that, upon a slight twist, it may fall against one side of the hoop, and prevent the escape of the insect.
1840. Thackeray, Shabby-genteel Story, ix. Mr. Fitch … gave a twist of the curling-tongs to his beard.
1849. H. Miller, Footpr. Creat., ix. (1874), 161. In order to accommodate it to the general twist, which rendered lateral what in other fishes is dorsal and abdominal.
1855. Browning, A Light Woman, x. [A pear] ’Twas quenching a dozen blue-flies’ thirst When I gave its stalk a twist.
1906. Daily Chron., 7 June, 4/7. We have to allow for the twist of the earth,… mid-Europe time and Eastern Europe time … are ahead of Greenwich.
b. spec. in Arch.: see quot. 1875.
1840. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 232/2. A short portion of a course, or a single arch-stone, is very nearly contained between two planes slightly inclined to each other; and … the loss of material arising from the twist of the stone must always be insignificant.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Twist (3), Archit., the wind of the bed-joint of each course of voussoirs in a skew arch.
13. a. In Tennis, Cricket, Billiards, etc.: Lateral spin imparted to a ball in striking or delivery, causing it to diverge on rebounding; ‘screw’; a stroke by which such spin is given; the action or knack of giving this spin to a ball; also, a ball having such spin.
1699. E. S—cy, Country Gentl. Vade M., 54. The Players [at Tennis] … talking of Cuts and Twists, and Forces.
1833. Nyren, Yng. Cricketer’s Tutor, 68. The ball was delivered quite low, and with a twist.
1856. [see SCREW sb.1 11 b].
1884. I. Bligh, in Lillywhite’s Cricket Ann., 3. W. H. Cooper, as to whose powers of twist and singularity of method so much has been heard.
1889. S. Gibney, in Boys’ Own Paper, 4 May, 496/1. The way well pitched up balls to crump, And how the twists should smothered be.
b. Physics. Movement parallel to, combined with rotation about, an axis (as in the motion of a screw); also, the velocity of such movement (= twist-velocity).
1891. in Cent. Dict.
14. The amount or direction of twisting given to the strands of a rope (rare); also, the twisting given to yarn in spinning.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. iii. Habbakuk brought him a smooth strong tough rope … Jack … found fault with the length, the thickness, and the twist.
1810. J. T., in Risdon’s Surv. Devon, p. xxv. The other yarn, of a softer twist, is called the abb or shoot.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 383. When the spindles have given the requisite degree of twist to the yarn.
1831. G. R. Porter, Silk Manuf., 205. The action of steam … is found effectually and permanently to set the twist.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 983. The flat band, made of four ropes placed horizontally together, the ropes being laid alternately right and left…. The ropes counteract one another in the twist.
c. 1905. in Eng. Dial. Dict. (W. Yks.), Twist,… the turns put into the end of thread by the rotation of the spindle.
15. The condition of being twisted spirally; the amount or degree of this; spec. the angle of torsion; also, a spirally twisted object or figure; a spiral line or pattern; spec. the rifling in the bore of a gun, etc. (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875).
Damascus twist: see DAMASCUS.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 120, ¶ 3. There is not the least Turn in the Muscles or Twist in the Fibres 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 of them would have been.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 283. The tusks [of this elephant] … have a larger twist, or spiral curve, towards the smaller end.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 100. The experience of the workmen [gun-making] enables them to produce any intricacy of twist by this drawing out, doubling and twisting.
1846. Greener, Sc. Gunnery, 114. It is then twisted like a rope, or … wrung as wet clothes are, until it has from twelve to fourteen complete turns in the inch…. Three of these rods are then placed together, with the inclinations of the twists running in opposite directions; they are then welded. Ibid., 368. The twist of the spirals … being one turn in four feet. Ibid. (1858), Gunnery, 218. Drop a few drops of muriatic acid in a basin of water, and wash the barrel slightly, to brighten the twists.
1859. Handbk. Turning, 113. Examine your work, and see whether the twists begin to appear…. As the ivory twists are, of course, very delicate,… employ the screw guides, as directed for the spiral turning.
1867. Thomson & Tait, Nat. Phil., § 120. The whole twist of any length of a straight rod is the angle between the transverses of its ends.
1885. Watson & Burbury, Math. Th. Electr. & Magn., I. 81. The suspending wire or fibre will be perfectly free from any twist or torsion.
b. Dynamics. Twisting strain or force; torque.
1891. in Cent. Dict.
c. fig. A means or opportunity of twisting; a hold. Cf. SCREW sb.1 2. slang.
1881. Home Missionary (N. Y.), Feb., 386. An artful scheme by which to get a twist on them for the extortion of money.
16. a. Out of twist, free from twisting or torsion.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., x. (1858), 216. If their [the planets’] plane be, as a workman would say, out of twist, their lines will seem parallel.
1901. J. Black’s Illustr. Carp. & Build., Scaffolding, 34. As on the way the holes are bored will depend in a great measure whether the ladder is out of twist or not when finished, they should be made as true as possible.
b. A twisting or screwing of the body or features; a contortion or screw.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., III. i. Another dry twist in place of a smile.
1896. Pall Mall Mag., Sept., 5. ‘Indeed!’ said Mr. Paget, with an upward twist of his grizzled brows.
c. A strain or wrench (of a limb or joint).
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. vii. You have got a twist in that bone.
1868. Atkinson, Cleveland Gloss., Twist, a strain, or wrench; of a joint.
17. A hearty appetite. Cf. TWIST v. 13. slang.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. T., s.v., A good twist, a good appetite.
a. 1830[?]. in Norman, London Signs & Inscript., iii. (1893), 63. Milo the Crotonian an ox slew with his fist, And ate it up at one meal, ye Gods what a glorious twist.
1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, IV. viii. What a devil of a twist he has got!
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., vi. You talking of my twist, indeed; you ate four chops and a whole chicken to-day, at dinner.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Miner’s Right, iv. ‘Cyrus has such a tremendous appetite….’ ‘If I’ve got a good twist, I can do a day’s work.’
18. An irregular bend; a crook, a kink; also, a confused intertwining, as of a yarn or thread; a tangle. Chiefly fig.
A twist in one’s tongue, inability to articulate or pronounce clearly.
1776. Foote, Capuchin, III. Wks. 1799, II. 401. I am told I have a small twist in my tongue.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), III. v. Some plaguy twist in our horoscope.
1858. Longf., M. Standish, VIII. 75. She disentangled expertly Twist or knot in the yarn.
1897. 19th Cent., Nov., 786. A twist in the language, an intricate turn, an idiomatic knot.
1903. Westm. Gaz., 23 Dec., 9/2. The twists into which some consciences have got tangled.
19. A turning aside, a deviation; also fig. change of circumstances, vicissitude; in quot. 1884, the twisting flight of a snipe; also, a point or place at which a road alters its direction; a bend, turn (also fig.); often in phrase twists and turns, intricate windings, ins and outs.
1798. Sophia Lee, Canterb. T., Yng. Lady’s T., II. 6. Anxiously did she … form to every fantastic twist of fashion, Miss Arden’s rich profusion of auburn hair.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), VI. Introd. A hot sun … to stare in upon me all day … at every twist of the road.
1853. Jerdan, Autobiog., IV. xvii. 330. After all his twists and turns of fortune.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 38. When men have learned to take a pleasure and pride in the twists and turns of the law.
1884. St. James’s Gaz., 19 Dec., 6/2. Before the snipe got into his twist … the single-barrel seemed to drop the shot with certainty.
1884. Tennyson, Becket, V. ii. He knows the twists and turnings of the place.
1897. G. Allen, Typewriter Girl, v. After various intricate twists and turns,… I found myself at last by the side of a pond.
20. fig. a. An eccentric or perverted inclination or attitude; esp. a peculiar mental turn or bent; an intellectual or moral bias or obliquity; a craze, whim, crotchet.
1811. Byron, Hints fr. Hor., 734, note. If she don’t take a poetical twist, and come forth as a shoe-making Sappho.
1813. Sir R. Wilson, Diary, in Life (1862), II. 204. He has a twist, or, as the Scotch say, a ‘craze’ on the subject of dress.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xxxvi. If in a mind so beautiful any moral twist or bandiness could be found.
1842. L. Hunt, Men, Women, & B. (1847), II. xii. 305. It took a twist of intrigue and worldliness.
1872. Morley, Voltaire, vi. (ed. 2), 311. The twist which polemical fury may give to the most acute intelligence.
1885. Dunckley, in Manch. Exam., 20 July, 6/1. Attendance at Government night schools might easily give them a pauper twist for the rest of their lives.
b. A wresting, perversion, distortion.
1862. Goulburn, Pers. Relig., IV. vii. (1873), 304. What twists has the mind of man contrived to give it [the Gospel].
1875. Whitney, Life Lang., v. 96. The most curious twist of meaning.
1876. Douse, Grimm’s L., § 34. 71. Minute phonetic twists in the several adopting dialects … might still wrench the sound on to widely divergent lines of debilitation.
21. Anglo-Irish. A spell or turn; a bout; a contest. Cf. TURN sb. 25. rare.
1846. J. Keegan, Leg. & Poems (1907), 430. The great Queen’s County bruiser … to take a twist with Davy Fetherstone.
IV. 22. attrib. and Comb., as twist-cop, hand, -loaf, manufacturer, service (sense 13), -spinning, tobacco; twist barrel, a gun-barrel formed of a spirally twisted strip or strips of iron; hence twist-barrelled a.; twist-bit, = twisted bit (TWISTED 4); twist-drill: see quot.; twist-frame, a throstle for spinning cotton; twist-gear, a gear in which the teeth are helices (Cent. Dict., Supp., 1909); twist-joint, Telegraphy, a joint made by placing the ends of two wires side by side and coiling each round the other for a few turns (Cent. Dict., 1891); twist knot, a figure-of-eight knot, repeated or continued so as to form a kind of plait; twist-lace = BOBBIN-NET; † twist line: see TWINE sb.1 4 b; twist-machine: see quot.; also a machine for cutting spiral moldings in wood-work (Funk’s Stand. Dict., 1895); twist-pinion = twist-wheel; twist-rail, a banister-rail characterized by a twisted or curved end or part; twist-shaft, the shaft of the twist-wheel; twist-stitch, an embroidery stitch: see quot.; twist-wheel, in a spinning-machine, a wheel by which the number of turns put into the yarn is determined; twist-yarn = sense 4 b (a).
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 98. The *twist barrels … are used for the most curious and expensive kinds of guns and pistols.
1881. Greener, Gun, 81. The great step to the success of the double fowling-piece was the employment of twist barrels. Ibid. (1858), Gunnery, 189. A *twist barrelled gun.
1901. J. Black’s Illustr. Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 34. They must now be bored … with brace and *twist-bit.
1881. Manch. Guard., 12 Jan. Medium counts of *twist and weft cops.
1875. Knight, Dich. Mech., *Twist-drill, (Metal-working) a drill having a twisted body like that of an auger.
1888. Hasluck, Model Engin. Handybk. (1900), 66. A twist-drill will run through easily and will leave two holes.
1819. Encycl. Brit., Suppl. III. 396/2. The mule … contains a system of rollers like that belonging to the *twist frame.
1590. Acc. Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 371. Cre[mosin] and black *twiste fringe … twiste blacke fringe.
1886. Daily News, 20 Oct., 6/2. The *twist hands or workmen who have charge of a machine earned their … seven pounds a week.
1871. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 246. The *twist knot is by no means so generally known. Dissected it is an ordinary ‘three plait,’ though formed of one piece…. If well done it forms a hard, tight, and compact long knot.
1840. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 432/1. Improvements in machinery, for … making figured or ornamental bobbin-net or *twist-lace.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., II. x. 100. I made my meat-ball like a *twist-loaf.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Twist-machine, one form of lace-making machine.
1800. New Ann. Direct., 235. *Twist Manufacturers.
1879. J. Robertson, in Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 397/2. The *twist-pinion requires to be changed when any material alteration is made in the count of the yarn.
1778. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2), I. 618/1. Plate xxxviii. Shews the manner of squaring *twist-rails.
1901. Munsey’s Mag., XXV. 657/1. Mahony was beaten at Newport … chiefly through the *twist service.
1884. W. S. B. McLaren, Spinning (ed. 2), 139. The crown wheel … appears at first sight as if it were driven by the *twist shaft.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 387. In water *twist-spinning, the operation of stretching is not introduced.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 180/1. Cord Stitch, a stitch used in Embroidery to cover straight threads thrown across spaces, and not run into the material; also known as *Twist Stitch…. Throw a line of thread across a space and fasten it firmly. Return the thread to where it first started from by twisting it over and over the straight and tight line first made.
1894. H. Nisbet, Bush Girl’s Rom., 63. He would be reduced once more to the old patched suit and station *twist tobacco.
1851. L. D. B. Gordon, Art Jrnl. Illustr. Catal., p. vi**/2. The requisite quantity of twist … is regulated by the *twist-wheel.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 413. Spinning of *twist yarn is the sole business of the establishment.
1891. Labour Commission Gloss., s.v., Twist yarn is used for the warps which run lengthwise in a piece of cloth…. Twist yarn is always made much stronger than weft, and so called because more twists per inch are put into the yarn while being spun.
