Adjacent Words

Torsion definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TOR'SION, n. [L. torsio, from torqueo, to twist.] The act of turning or twisting.
Torsion balance, an instrument for estimating very minute forces by the motion of an index attached to the ends of two fine wires,which twist around each other.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a tortuous and twisted shape or position; "they built a tree house in the tortuosities of its boughs"; "the acrobat performed incredible contortions" [syn: tortuosity, tortuousness, torsion, contortion, crookedness]
2: a twisting force [syn: torsion, torque]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Late Latin torsion-, torsio torment, alteration of Latin tortio, from torqu?re to twist Date: 1543 1. the twisting or wrenching of a body by the exertion of forces tending to turn one end or part about a longitudinal axis while the other is held fast or turned in the opposite direction; also the state of being twisted 2. the twisting of a bodily organ or part on its own axis 3. the reactive torque that an elastic solid exerts by reason of being under torsion • torsional adjective • torsionally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 twisting, esp. of one end of a body while the other is held fixed. 2 Math. the extent to which a curve departs from being planar. 3 Bot. the state of being twisted into a spiral. 4 Med. the twisting of the cut end of an artery after surgery etc. to impede bleeding. Phrases and idioms: torsion balance an instrument for measuring very weak forces by their effect upon a system of fine twisted wire. torsion bar a bar forming part of a vehicle suspension, twisting in response to the motion of the wheels, and absorbing their vertical movement. torsion pendulum a pendulum working by rotation rather than by swinging. Derivatives: torsional adj. torsionally adv. torsionless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF f. LL torsio -onis f. L tortio (as TORT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Torsion Tor"sion, n. [F., fr. LL. torsio, fr. L. torquere, tortum, to twist. See Torture.] 1. The act of turning or twisting, or the state of being twisted; the twisting or wrenching of a body by the exertion of a lateral force tending to turn one end or part of it about a longitudinal axis, while the other is held fast or turned in the opposite direction. 2. (Mech.) That force with which a thread, wire, or rod of any material, returns, or tends to return, to a state of rest after it has been twisted; torsibility. Angle of torsion (of a curve) (Geom.), the indefinitely small angle between two consecutive osculating planes of a curve of double curvature. Moment of torsion (Mech.) the moment of a pair of equal and opposite couples which tend to twist a body. Torsion balance (Physics.), an instrument for estimating very minute forces, as electric or magnetic attractions and repulsions, by the torsion of a very slender wire or fiber having at its lower extremity a horizontal bar or needle, upon which the forces act. Torsion scale, a scale for weighing in which the fulcra of the levers or beams are strained wires or strips acting by torsion.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Torsion is a twisting effect on something such as a piece of metal or an organ of the body. (TECHNICAL)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Twisting.

Moby Thesaurus

ambages, anamorphism, anamorphosis, anfractuosity, asymmetry, buckle, circuitousness, circumambages, circumbendibus, circumlocution, circumvolution, contortion, convolution, crinkle, crinkling, crookedness, deflection, deflexure, detorsion, deviation, diffraction, diffusion, dispersion, disproportion, distortion, flection, flexuosity, flexuousness, flexure, gnarl, imbalance, intorsion, involution, irregularity, knot, lopsidedness, meander, meandering, quirk, refraction, rivulation, scatter, screw, sinuation, sinuosity, sinuousness, skewness, slinkiness, snakiness, stress, torque, tortility, tortuosity, tortuousness, turn, turning, twist, twisting, undulation, unsymmetry, warp, wave, waving, winding, wrench, wrest, wring