distort

Formsdistorts, distorting, distorted

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To force or bend something out of its normal shape, making it misshapen.

   Like squeezing a balloon so it bulges out into a new shape.

   Strong magnets can distort the image on an old television screen.

   The fire distorted the metal railings beyond recognition.

   Similardeform, warp, twist, bend, contort

   Note

   The root image is a twist: English borrowed the word from distortum, a form of the Latin verb distorqueō, "to twist". Here someone or something does the wrenching, and the thing that loses its shape is the object of the verb: fire distorts metal, a magnet distorts a picture. When a thing loses its shape with no agent named, the verb shifts to the intransitive use.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To give a false or misleading account of something; to misrepresent it.

   Critics accused the documentary of distorting the historical record.

   Selective editing can distort the meaning of an entire interview.

   Similarmisrepresent, twist, falsify, skew, slant

   Note

   The twist moves from shape to meaning. Truth, facts, a record or an interview can be bent out of true just as metal can. The Latin verb distorqueō also meant "to torture", and a trace of that force survives here. A distorted account has been wrenched until it misleads. That is stronger than an account that has merely been trimmed or simplified.

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To become misshapen, losing the original form.

   Cheap plastic tends to distort when exposed to high heat.

   The photograph had distorted where moisture seeped into the frame.

   Similarwarp, buckle, deform, bend

   Note

   The same verb turned around. What was the object of the bending becomes the subject: heat distorts the plastic, and the plastic distorts. Grammarians call this pattern ergative, and bend, warp and melt work the same way. Because no agent needs to be named, this use suits shape lost through heat, damp or age rather than by anyone's hand.

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