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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

warp.

The state, quality, or condition of being twisted, physically or mentally:

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈwɔːp/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwoːp/Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard/ˈwoɹp/Canada, General-American/ˈwɔɾp/Scotland
  1. The state, quality, or condition of being twisted, physically or mentally: The state, quality, or condition of being physically bent or twisted out of shape.

    uncountable
  2. The state, quality, or condition of being twisted, physically or mentally: The state, quality, or condition of being deviant from what is right or proper morally or mentally.

    uncountable
  3. A distortion: A distortion or twist, such as in a piece of wood (also used figuratively).

    countable
  4. A distortion: A mental or moral distortion, deviation, or aberration.

    countable
  5. The threads that run lengthwise in a woven fabric; crossed by the woof or weft.

    countable · uncountable
  6. The foundation, the basis, the undergirding.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  7. A line or cable or rode as is used in warping (mooring or hauling) a ship, and sometimes for other purposes such as deploying a seine or creating drag.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A theoretical construct that permits travel across a medium without passing through it normally, such as a teleporter, faster-than-light travel or time warp.

    countable · uncountable
  9. A situation or place which is or seems to be from another era; a time warp.

    countable · uncountable
  10. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  11. A throw or cast, as of fish (in which case it is used as a unit of measure: about four fish, though sometimes three or even two), oysters, etc.

    countable · dialectal · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English warp, werp, from Old English wearp, warp (“a warp, threads stretched lengthwise in a loom, twig, osier”), from Proto-Germanic *warpą (“a warp”). Cognate with Middle Dutch warp, Middle Low German warp, German werfen, Danish and Swedish varp.

verb/ˈwɔːp/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwoːp/Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard/ˈwoɹp/Canada, General-American/ˈwɔɾp/Scotland
  1. To twist or become twisted, physically or mentally. To twist or turn (something) out of shape; to deform.

    transitive
    The moisture warped the board badly.
    to warp space and time
  2. To twist or become twisted, physically or mentally. To become twisted out of shape; to deform.

    intransitive
    Over the years the post had warped and checked and needed to be replaced.
  3. To twist or become twisted, physically or mentally. To deflect or turn (something) away from a true, proper or moral course; to pervert; to bias.

    transitive
    Funny how the thought of huge profits can warp your judgment.
  4. To twist or become twisted, physically or mentally. To go astray or be deflected from a true, proper or moral course; to deviate.

    intransitive
    His perspective had warped after his extreme experiences.
  5. To run (yarn) off the reel into hauls to be tarred.

    ambitransitive · obsolete
  6. To arrange strands of thread lengthwise on a loom.

    transitive
  7. To plot; to fabricate or weave (a plot or scheme).

    ambitransitive · figuratively · obsolete · rare
  8. To change or fix (make fixed, for example by freezing).

    obsolete · poetic · rare · transitive
  9. To move: 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.

    transitive
  10. To move: To move or be moved by this method.

    intransitive
  11. To move: To fly with a bending or waving motion, like a flock of birds or insects.

    dated · intransitive · rare
  12. To move: To travel or transport across a medium without passing through it normally, as by using a teleporter or time warp.

    ambitransitive
  13. To bring forth (young) prematurely.

    ambitransitive · dialectal · obsolete
  14. To fertilize (low-lying land) by letting the tide, a river, or other water in upon it to deposit silt and alluvial matter.

    ambitransitive
  15. To throw.

    obsolete · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English werpen, weorpen, worpen, from Old English weorpan (“to throw”), from Proto-West Germanic *werpan, from Proto-Germanic *werpaną (“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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.