Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The quality or condition of being tortuous; twistedness or crookedness.
- noun A bent or twisted part, passage, or thing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In geometry, the quality of being non-plane.
- noun The state or attribute of being tortuous; tortuousness; crookedness.
- noun A twisting or winding; a bend; a sinuosity.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
crookedness
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a tortuous and twisted shape or position
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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No description could exaggerate the tortuosity of the Linggi or the abruptness of its windings.
The Golden Chersonese and the way thither Isabella Lucy 2004
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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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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.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, November 20, 1841 Various
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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.
Disease and Its Causes William Thomas Councilman
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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 William Griffith
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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!
The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19 Kenneth Morris 1908
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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.
Humorous Ghost Stories Dorothy Scarborough 1906
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He who cheats his neighbour believes in tortuosity, and, as Carlyle says, has the Supreme Quack for his God.
Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher Henry Jones 1887
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No description could exaggerate the tortuosity of the Linggi or the abruptness of its windings.
The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither Isabella Lucy 1883
slumry commented on the word tortuosity
Thanks for the word, grassdog. I like it.
June 16, 2007