How to Use contort in a Sentence

contort

verb
  • The boy contorted his body to squeeze through the gate.
  • Her face was contorted with rage.
  • His body contorted with pain.
  • Bridges contorts his body, and jacks up an errant layup, but the play isn’t done there.
    — Fred Katz, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The sport, as a whole, should be contorting itself to make this work.
    — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, 25 Sep. 2019
  • Parsons would contort himself to get around blocks and force plays to fall apart.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 15 June 2023
  • Matt is going to put you in a bunch of different spots, contort you.
    — Andrew Lopez, NOLA.com, 22 Aug. 2017
  • Be able to reach back and contort his body into positions to catch the ball.
    — Tom Green | [email protected], al, 13 Sep. 2022
  • Gets vertical and extends or contorts in a crowd to grab the pass from the air.
    — Bob Condotta, The Seattle Times, 29 Apr. 2017
  • James Comey twisted the facts, contorted the law to clear her.
    — Fox News, 24 Aug. 2018
  • For now, that’s a concern that seems only to contort observers on the left.
    — Ryann Liebenthal, The New Republic, 9 May 2023
  • Two players face each other and contort their heads in all sorts of ways to avoid eye contact.
    — Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
  • With this, our bodies are being contorted in very strange ways.
    — Mike Miller Published, EW.com, 8 May 2025
  • The 41-year-old pitcher could not contort his body to corral it.
    — Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2018
  • Not amend it, not retool it, not further twist it and contort it, but repeal it.
    — Sean Camacho, Denver Post, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The wing is an oval, but while in flight, the pressure would force that to contort into a circle.
    — Molly Quell, Ars Technica, 22 Oct. 2019
  • This kept me from having to maneuver and contort my arms as the wand inched closer to my scalp.
    — Marisa Petrarca, Allure, 29 Dec. 2022
  • Vonn walked with a limp, which contorted her body in a way that put stress on other areas, like her hips and ribs.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Its meaning will be contorted and confused and to some extent lost.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2023
  • Much of Bella’s inner world comes through in how Stone contorts her body.
    — Sonia Rao, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023
  • Her face contorts in pain as the chopstick continues its descent.
    — Nina Li Coomes, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2019
  • That means the robot can pick up its legs to walk, bend its knees, turn its head, and contort its fingers to mime hand signals.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 22 Sep. 2020
  • Others returned to find their trailers contorted by the wind.
    — Chabeli Herrera, miamiherald, 19 Oct. 2017
  • Some language just gets contorted in error.
    — Louis J. Esterhazy, Footwear News, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Winston elevated and contorted his body just enough to toss the ball high off the glass.
    — Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 12 Feb. 2020
  • And children’s faces are contorted with terror.
    — Leonard Pitts Jr, Miami Herald, 1 Jan. 2026
  • Their mother sat on the floor in a cramped room, surrounded by women, her face contorted by grief.
    — Niha Masih, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2020
  • Stewart contorts his face with a look of disbelief when asked if Montgomery has stayed on him.
    — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Nembhard is smooth in the pick-and-roll and contorts action around screeners to open up passing lanes.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 28 Dec. 2024
  • An entire shed from one woman’s yard now lay, on its side, contorted, in another yard down the street.
    — Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 11 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contort.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: