Warp

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)p

From Middle English warp, werp, from Old English wearp, warp ("a warp, threads stretched lengthwise in a loom, twig, osier"), from Proto-Germanic *warpaz ("a warp"), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- ("to turn, bend"). Cognate with Middle Dutch warp, Middle Low German warp, German Warf, Danish varp, Swedish varp.

Full definition of warp

Noun

1. (obsolete) A throw; a cast.
2. (dialectal) A cast of fish (herring, haddock, etc.); four, as a tale of counting fish.
3. (dialectal) The young of an animal when brought forth prematurely; a cast lamb, kid, calf, or foal.
4. The sediment which subsides from turbid water; the alluvial deposit of muddy water artificially introduced into low lands in order to enrich or fertilise them.
5. (uncountable) The state of being bent or twisted out of shape.
6. A cast or twist; a distortion or twist, such as in a piece of wood.
7. (weaving) The threads that run lengthwise in a woven fabric; crossed by the woof or weft.
8. (nautical) A line or cable used in warping a ship.
9. A theoretical construct that permits travel across a medium without passing through it normally, such as a teleporter or time warp.

Related terms

• warp and woof
• warp drive
• warp factor
• warpedness
• time warp

From Middle English werpen, weorpen, worpen, from Old English weorpan ("to throw, cast, cast down, cast away, throw off, throw out, expel, throw upon, throw open, drive away, sprinkle, hit, hand over, lay hands on (a person), cast lots, charge with, accuse of"), from Proto-Germanic *werpanÄ… ("to throw, turn"), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- ("to bend, turn"). Cognate with Scots warp ("to throw, warp"), North Frisian werpen ("to throw"), Dutch werpen ("to throw, cast"), German werfen ("to throw, cast"), Icelandic verpa ("to throw").

Verb

1. (transitive, obsolete except dialectally) To throw; cast; toss; hurl; fling.
2. (transitive, obsolete except dialectally) To utter; ejaculate; enunciate; give utterance to.
3. (transitive, dialectal) To bring forth (young) prematurely, said of cattle, sheep, horses, etc.
4. (transitive, dialectal) To cause a person to suddenly come into a particular state; throw.
5. (transitive, dialectal) (of the wind or sea) To toss or throw around; carry along by natural force.
6. (ambitransitive, dialectal) (of a door) To throw open; open wide.
7. (transitive) To twist or turn something out of shape.
• ColeridgeThe planks looked warped.
• TennysonWalter warped his mouth at this
  To something so mock solemn, that I laughed.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 16, The preposterous altruism too!...Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.
8. (transitive) To deflect something from a true or proper course.
• DrydenThis first avowed, nor folly warped my mind.
• AddisonI have no private considerations to warp me in this controversy.
• SoutheyWe are divested of all those passions which cloud the intellects, and warp the understandings, of men.
9. (intransitive) To become twisted out of shape.
• William ShakespeareOne of you will prove a shrunk panel, and, like green timber, warp.
• MoxonThey clamp one piece of wood to the end of another, to keep it from casting, or warping.
10. (intransitive) To go astray or be deflected from a correct course
• William ShakespeareThere is our commission,
  From which we would not have you warp.
11. To affect something wrongly, unfairly or unfavourably; to bias
• 2012, June 3, Nathan Rabin, TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992), It gives a pair of drunken bums direction, purpose and thriving small businesses but it destroys their friendship and warps their morals in the process.
12. To arrange strands of thread etc so that they run lengthwise in weaving
13. (obsolete, rare, poetic) To weave, hence (figuratively) to fabricate; plot.
• Sternholdwhile doth he mischief warp
14. (nautical) To move a vessel by hauling on a line or cable that is fastened to an anchor or pier; especially to move a sailing ship through a restricted place such as a harbour
• 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure IslandWe had a dreary morning's work before us, for there was no sign of any wind, and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped three or four miles around the corner of the island....
15. (intransitive, nautical) (for a ship) To be moved by warping.
16. (intransitive) To fly with a bending or waving motion, like a flock of birds or insects.
• John MiltonA pitchy cloud
  Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind.
17. (agriculture) To let the tide or other water in upon (low-lying land), for the purpose of fertilization, by a deposit of warp, or slimy substance.
18. (ropemaking) To run off the reel into hauls to be tarred, as yarns.
19. (intransitive) To travel across a medium without passing through it normally, as by using a teleporter or time warp.

Anagrams

• wrap