2 uses
(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
twist or bend to an unnatural shape — something such as the human body, a facial expression, or the truth
- Under the trees several pheasants lay about, their rich plumage dabbled with blood; some were dead, some feebly twitching a wing, some staring up at the sky, some pulsating quickly, some contorted, some stretched out—all of them writhing in agony, except the fortunate ones whose tortures had ended during the night by the inability of nature to bear more.5 — The Woman Pays (66% in)
- Latterly he had seen only Life, felt only the great passionate pulse of existence, unwarped, uncontorted, untrammelled by those creeds which futilely attempt to check what wisdom would be content to regulate.4 — The Consequence (8% in)
There are no more uses of "contort" in Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
Typical Usage
(best examples)