pretzels

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pretzel.

   Warm pretzels came out of the oven in twisted golden knots.

   The festival stalls offered everything from sausages to giant pretzels.

   Note

   The spelling does double duty. Pretzels is both the plural noun and the verb's present-tense form, and the surrounding words tell them apart: a number or determiner in front (two pretzels, the pretzels) marks the noun. As a noun it names the knotted bread or cracker. It can also stretch to anything knotted, twisted or tangled, so a snarl of cables can be a mess of pretzels too.

2. 2
   verbcolloquialCanadaUS

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of pretzel.

   Anxiety pretzels his thoughts whenever he has to speak in public.

   The dancer pretzels herself through the narrow hoop without a stumble.

   Note

   An informal verb of Canadian and US English, and a transitive one. Something is always on the receiving end: a body, a wire, a train of thought. It takes a reflexive object easily (she pretzels herself into the back seat). Keep it for casual speech and writing. In formal prose, twist or contort says the same thing without the joke. The form is spelled the same as the plural noun.

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