Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The quality or condition of being tortuous; twistedness or crookedness.
- n. A bent or twisted part, passage, or thing.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. crookedness
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In geometry, the quality of being non-plane.
- n. The state or attribute of being tortuous; tortuousness; crookedness.
- n. A twisting or winding; a bend; a sinuosity.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a tortuous and twisted shape or position
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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No description could exaggerate the tortuosity of the Linggi or the abruptness of its windings.
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Dilatation and tortuosity of the anterior ciliary veins are due apparently to excessive flow of blood through them on account of the abnormally small amount carried off by the venae vorticosae.
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They are less common on days in which winds prevail from any given direction, and vary much in intensity from a mere breeze, lightly laden with dust and with no tortuosity, to a violent cone of wind, capable of throwing down a _soldari_.
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries
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As I expected, the depraved Whig Journalist, with characteristic mental tortuosity, has asserted that the sounds proceeded from a rookery in the adjoining wood, aided by the braying of the turf-man's donkey.
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These are very numerous, and from 1/25000 to 1/1000 of an inch in diameter, spaces which would allow bacteria to pass through, but they are held back by the very fine openings between the spaces and by the tortuosity of the intercommunications.
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The Lienal or Splenic Artery (a. lienalis), the largest branch of the celiac artery, is remarkable for the tortuosity of its course.
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How little of the tortuosity of metaphysics is here; -- but what grand efficacity of super-ethics!
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Mrs. Ogleton, too, had a pet -- a favorite pug -- whose squab figure, black muzzle, and tortuosity of tail, that curled like a head of celery in a salad-bowl, bespoke his Dutch extraction.
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He who cheats his neighbour believes in tortuosity, and, as Carlyle says, has the Supreme Quack for his God.
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I couldn't however be dumb -- that was to give the wrong tinge to my disappointment; so that later in the afternoon, taking my courage in both hands, I approached with a vain tortuosity poor
slumry commented on the word tortuosity
Thanks for the word, grassdog. I like it.
June 16, 2007