distort

distort
    v 1: make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or
         story [syn: {falsify}, {distort}, {garble}, {warp}]
    2: form into a spiral shape; "The cord is all twisted" [syn:
       {twist}, {twine}, {distort}] [ant: {untwist}]
    3: twist and press out of shape [syn: {contort}, {deform},
       {distort}, {wring}]
    4: affect as in thought or feeling; "My personal feelings color
       my judgment in this case"; "The sadness tinged his life"
       [syn: {tinge}, {color}, {colour}, {distort}]
    5: alter the shape of (something) by stress; "His body was
       deformed by leprosy" [syn: {deform}, {distort}, {strain}]
    

Distort \Dis*tort"\, a. [L. distortus, p. p. of distorquere to
   twist, distort; dis- + torquere to twist. See {Torsion}.]
   Distorted; misshapen. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Her face was ugly and her mouth distort. --Spenser.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Distort \Dis*tort"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Distorted}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Distorting}.]
   1. To twist of natural or regular shape; to twist aside
      physically; as, to distort the limbs, or the body.
      [1913 Webster]

            Whose face was distorted with pain.   --Thackeray.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to
      twist aside mentally or morally.
      [1913 Webster]

            Wrath and malice, envy and revenge, do darken and
            distort the understandings of men.    --Tillotson.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort
      passages of Scripture, or their meaning.

   Syn: To twist; wrest; deform; pervert.
        [1913 Webster]
    

164 Moby Thesaurus words for "distort":
      adulterate, alloy, alter, argue insincerely, belie, bend, bias,
      blemish, blur, buckle, burlesque, camouflage, canker, caricature,
      change, cheapen, check, cicatrize, coarsen, color, confound,
      confuse, contaminate, contort, corrupt, crack, craze, crook,
      crumple, curve, debase, debauch, deface, defile, deflect, deflower,
      deform, degenerate, degrade, denature, deprave, desecrate, despoil,
      devalue, deviate, diffract, diffuse, disfigure, disguise, disorder,
      disperse, diverge, divert, dogleg, dress up, embellish, embroider,
      exaggerate, fabricate, falsify, flaw, fog up, fudge, garble,
      get one wrong, get wrong, gild, gloss, gloss over, gnarl, hairpin,
      infect, influence, jaundice, jumble, kink, knot, mar, mask,
      mess up, misapply, misapprehend, miscite, miscolor, misconceive,
      misconstrue, misdeem, misexplain, misexplicate, misexpound,
      misinterpret, misjudge, misquote, misread, misrender, misreport,
      misrepresent, misshape, misstate, mistake, misteach, mistranslate,
      misunderstand, misuse, muddle, obfuscate, obscure, overdraw,
      overstate, paralogize, parody, pervert, poison, pollute, prejudice,
      prejudice against, prejudice the issue, prepossess, prostitute,
      pull, rationalize, ravage, ravish, reason ill, refract, scab, scar,
      scarify, scatter, screw, skew, slant, split, spring, squeeze,
      strain, strain the sense, sway, taint, tamper with, titivate,
      torture, travesty, trick out, turn, turn awry, twist,
      twist the words, ulcerate, understate, unform, unshape, varnish,
      violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, whitewash, wind, wrench, wrest,
      wring, writhe, zigzag