Both Uses of
contort
in
The Scarlet Letter
- Of an impulsive and passionate nature, she had fortified herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely, wreaking itself in every variety of insult; but there was a quality so much more terrible in the solemn mood of the popular mind, that she longed rather to behold all those rigid countenances contorted with scornful merriment, and herself the object.†
Chpt 2 *
- But Pearl, not a whit startled at her mother's threats any more than mollified by her entreaties, now suddenly burst into a fit of passion, gesticulating violently, and throwing her small figure into the most extravagant contortions.†
Chpt 19
Definition:
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(contort) twist or bend to an unnatural shape -- something such as the human body, a facial expression, or the truth