What's the difference between twist and wry?

Twist


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve.
  • (v. t.) Hence, to turn from the true form or meaning; to pervert; as, to twist a passage cited from an author.
  • (v. t.) To distort, as a solid body, by turning one part relatively to another about an axis passing through both; to subject to torsion; as, to twist a shaft.
  • (v. t.) To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts.
  • (v. t.) To wind into; to insinuate; -- used reflexively; as, avarice twists itself into all human concerns.
  • (v. t.) To unite by winding one thread, strand, or other flexible substance, round another; to form by convolution, or winding separate things round each other; as, to twist yarn or thread.
  • (v. t.) Hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up.
  • (v. t.) To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as, to twist wool or cotton.
  • (v. i.) To be contorted; to writhe; to be distorted by torsion; to be united by winding round each other; to be or become twisted; as, some strands will twist more easily than others.
  • (v. i.) To follow a helical or spiral course; to be in the form of a helix.
  • (n.) The act of twisting; a contortion; a flexure; a convolution; a bending.
  • (n.) The form given in twisting.
  • (n.) That which is formed by twisting, convoluting, or uniting parts.
  • (n.) A cord, thread, or anything flexible, formed by winding strands or separate things round each other.
  • (n.) A kind of closely twisted, strong sewing silk, used by tailors, saddlers, and the like.
  • (n.) A kind of cotton yarn, of several varieties.
  • (n.) A roll of twisted dough, baked.
  • (n.) A little twisted roll of tobacco.
  • (n.) One of the threads of a warp, -- usually more tightly twisted than the filling.
  • (n.) A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together; as, Damascus twist.
  • (n.) The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon.
  • (n.) A beverage made of brandy and gin.
  • (v. t.) A twig.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Aberrant forms (elongated and twisted) in the vacuole and double virions in the plasma membrane were observed as early as 65 h after infection.
  • (2) Electron microscopy shows that at neutral pH, CEA particles consist of homogeneous, morphologically distinctive, twisted rod-shaped particles, about 9 X 40 nm.
  • (3) Rapid swelling of the knee following a blow or twisting injury is considered a significant injury.
  • (4) Intermolecular contacts occur in both oligomers in the minor groove: in the B form through twisted guanine-guanine hydrogen bonding, and in the Z form through base-base stacking and the water network.
  • (5) Ings twisted the knee during his first training session with Klopp in charge and tests have shown the former Burnley forward ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament, meaning that a player who has just broken into England’s senior team will be out for a minimum of six months.
  • (6) Leicester looked a little sorry for themselves and, with their concentration down, United twisted the knife.
  • (7) Gowher Rizvi, chief representative of the prime minister, Sheik Hasina, told the Guardian that preparations for the forthcoming elections, were "completely on track" and that the tribunal, probing crimes committed during the 1971 war in which Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan, was about bringing justice previously denied by "the twists and turns" of the country's history.
  • (8) The base orientations are characterized by a substantial inclination and propellor twist.
  • (9) Among the non-standard postures examined were: twisting while lifting or lowering, lifting and lowering from lying, sitting, kneeling, and squatting positions, and carrying loads under conditions of constricted ceiling heights.
  • (10) A vicious feud playing out within Uzbekistan's ruling family took a new twist on Monday , when prosecutors announced that the clan's most flamboyant member faces charges of involvement in mafia-style corruption.
  • (11) The possible arrangements of molecules within the twisted ribbons have been deduced and are found to be fairly closely related.
  • (12) Idiopathic torsion dystonia (ITD) is characterized by sustained, involuntary muscle contractions, frequently causing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures.
  • (13) These results indicate that the polypeptide chain, driven by energetics (nonbonded and electrostatic interactions), is folded into a typical left-handed twisted four-helix bundle with an approximately 4-fold symmetric array, as observed in most four alpha-helix proteins.
  • (14) In the mutants twist and snail, which fail to differentiate the ventrally derived mesoderm, mitoses specific to the mesoderm are absent.
  • (15) Fulham were helped by United being forced into a trio of substitutions at the interval, as Rafael succumbed to a twisted ankle, Cleverly had double vision and Evans had back trouble.
  • (16) Blockage of the balloon system was possibly caused by twisting the system to reach and pass the lesion in the branch of left circumflex coronary artery.
  • (17) In the tradition of the American author Patricia Highsmith, creator of the charming psychopath Tom Ripley, Rendell used twisting plots to expose twisted minds.
  • (18) From previous genetic and biochemical studies it was hypothesized that dorsal might be responsible for the activation of the zygotic gene twist.
  • (19) Finally, the twisted nose was treated by freeing the nasal components, straightening the bone and cartilage, and replacing them in their anatomical positions.
  • (20) It doesn’t do a lot at the moment, but there’s a lot of potential for a modern twist on board games here.

Wry


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To cover.
  • (superl.) Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.
  • (superl.) Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place; as, wry words.
  • (superl.) Wrested; perverted.
  • (v. i.) To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.
  • (v. i.) To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to turn side; to swerve.
  • (a.) To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) When I commiserate about the overnight flight that brought them here, Linney gives a wry grimace.
  • (2) The image was widely shared online and taken as a wry comment on pictures of Donald Trump’s all-male Oval Office team.
  • (3) Putin could have been forgiven for allowing himself a wry grin, as another court comprehensively trashed Berezovsky's reputation.
  • (4) No wry observations or whoops-a-daisy trombones to subvert the conceit for period lolz.
  • (5) She frequently talks about herself as an object of wry or amused discovery.
  • (6) It was described as the "Twitter revolution" , but almost a year on from Iran's disputed presidential elections, during which the use of social media by the opposition movement made headlines around the world, such claims prompt wry smiles from seasoned observers.
  • (7) Enigmatic and elusive, they may have named themselves after the US video director because they enjoy his work, or it may be a wry comment on something or other.
  • (8) Franzen did seem to have a certain sense of humour about himself, and in person has a wry, awkward charm.
  • (9) Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 coal plants in planning across 59 countries, with about three-quarters in China and India.
  • (10) The cover art for the Cranberries' Bury the Hatchet (1999) was an evocation of paranoia – a giant eye bearing down on a crouching figure – that did neither band nor artist many favours; his image for Muse's Black Holes and Revelations (2006) amounted to a thin revival of his work for the Floyd that, if you were being generous, suggested a wry comment on that band's unconvincing attempts to revive the excesses of 1970s progressive rock.
  • (11) He was a nice man, unpretentious and with a wry manner.
  • (12) The secretary of state also made a wry comparison between the bipartisan co-operation underpinning the new Afghan government and the polarised state of American domestic politics.
  • (13) But he is courteous, wry, insightful and very much on the left of his party.
  • (14) "I think I know what's to come," Chua says with a wry smile.
  • (15) "I don't think that Plaid Cymru can overturn world capitalism," she says, with a wry smile.
  • (16) "They were very happy," Wazir recalls with a wry smile.
  • (17) We are seeing a shift in the expansion of tree cover loss to a second tier of smaller countries that traditionally get much less attention from environmental groups.” He added: “These countries are recovering from years of civil conflicts that have made them off limits to investors who are now looking for opportunities – it is a new frontier of investments.” The WRI analysis suggests that a rapidly growing palm oil industry is one of the biggest contributors to the change.
  • (18) Guy Shrubsole, at Friends of the Earth, said of the WRI report: "This is a scary number of coal-fired plants being planned.
  • (19) The WRI report also found that, after a slight dip during the economic troubles of 2008, the global coal trade has rebounded and rose by 13% in 2010.
  • (20) But he is far from being a show-off: 'In fact, he comes over as a modest individual with a wry sense of humour', says a colleague.