warp

 
Pronunciation: /wɔːp/

verb

  • 1make or become bent or twisted out of shape, typically as a result of the effects of heat or damp: [with object]: moisture had warped the box [no object]: wood has a tendency to warp
  • [with object] make abnormal or strange; distort: your judgement has been warped by your obvious dislike of him (as adjective warped) a warped sense of humour
  • 2(with reference to a ship) move or be moved along by hauling on a rope attached to a stationary object ashore: [with object and adverbial of direction]: crew and passengers helped warp the vessels through the shallow section
  • 3 [with object] (in weaving) arrange (yarn) so as to form the warp of a piece of cloth: cotton string will be warped on the loom in the rug-weaving process
  • 4 [with object] cover (land) with a deposit of alluvial soil by natural or artificial flooding: the main canal may be cut so as to warp the lands on each side of it

noun

  • 1a twist or distortion in the shape of something: the head of the racket had a curious warp
  • [as modifier] relating to or denoting (fictional or hypothetical) space travel by means of distorting space-time: warp speed
  • an abnormality or perversion in a person’s character: no mind is more capable of warps than his
  • 2 [in singular] (in weaving) the threads on a loom over and under which other threads (the weft) are passed to make cloth: the warp and weft are the basic constituents of all textiles figurative rugby is woven into the warp and weft of South African society
  • 3a rope attached at one end to a fixed point and used for moving or mooring a ship.
  • 4 [mass noun] archaic alluvial sediment; silt: the warp or muddy deposit dug from an old riverbed

Derivatives

warpage

noun
warp (sense 1 of the verb).

warper

noun

Origin:

Old English weorpan (verb), wearp (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch werpen and German werfen 'to throw'. Early verb senses included 'throw' and 'hit with a missile'; the sense 'bend' dates from late Middle English. The noun was originally a term in weaving (see warp (sense 2 of the noun))