Definitions for: Warp


[n] yarn arranged lengthways on a loom and crossed by the woof
[n] a moral or mental distortion
[n] a shape distorted by twisting or folding
[n] a twist or aberration; especially a perverse or abnormal way of judging or acting
[v] bend out of shape, as under pressure or from heat; "The highway buckled during the heatwave"
[v] make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story



Webster (1913) Definition: Warp, v. t. (A["e]ronautics)
To twist the end surfaces of (an a["e]rocurve in an
a["e]roplane) in order to restore or maintain equilibrium.


Warp, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Warped; p. pr. & vb. n.
Warping.] [OE. warpen; fr. Icel. varpa to throw, cast, varp
a casting, fr. verpa to throw; akin to Dan. varpe to warp a
ship, Sw. varpa, AS. weorpan to cast, OS. werpan, OFries.
werpa, D. & LG. werpen, G. werfen, Goth. wa['i]rpan; cf. Skr.
vrj to twist. ????. Cf. Wrap.]
1. To throw; hence, to send forth, or throw out, as words; to
utter. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman.

2. To turn or twist out of shape; esp., to twist or bend out
of a flat plane by contraction or otherwise.

The planks looked warped. --Coleridge.

Walter warped his mouth at this To something so mock
solemn, that I laughed. --Tennyson.

3. To turn aside from the true direction; to cause to bend or
incline; to pervert.

This first avowed, nor folly warped my mind.
--Dryden.

I have no private considerations to warp me in this
controversy. --Addison.

We are divested of all those passions which cloud
the intellects, and warp the understandings, of men.
--Southey.

4. To weave; to fabricate. [R. & Poetic.] --Nares.

While doth he mischief warp. --Sternhold.

5. (Naut.) To tow or move, as a vessel, with a line, or warp,
attached to a buoy, anchor, or other fixed object.

6. To cast prematurely, as young; -- said of cattle, sheep,
etc. [Prov. Eng.]

7. (Agric.) To let the tide or other water in upon (lowlying
land), for the purpose of fertilization, by a deposit of
warp, or slimy substance. [Prov. Eng.]

8. (Rope Making) To run off the reel into hauls to be tarred,
as yarns.

9. (Weaving) To arrange (yarns) on a warp beam.

Warped surface (Geom.), a surface generated by a straight
line moving so that no two of its consecutive positions
shall be in the same plane. --Davies & Peck.


Warp, v. i.
1. To turn, twist, or be twisted out of shape; esp., to be
twisted or bent out of a flat plane; as, a board warps in
seasoning or shrinking.

One of you will prove a shrunk panel, and, like
green timber, warp, warp. --Shak.

They clamp one piece of wood to the end of another,
to keep it from casting, or warping. --Moxon.

2. to turn or incline from a straight, true, or proper
course; to deviate; to swerve.

There is our commission, From which we would not
have you warp. --Shak.

3. To fly with a bending or waving motion; to turn and wave,
like a flock of birds or insects.

A pitchy cloud Of locusts, warping on the eastern
wind. --Milton.

4. To cast the young prematurely; to slink; -- said of
cattle, sheep, etc. [Prov. Eng.]

5. (Weaving) To wind yarn off bobbins for forming the warp of
a web; to wind a warp on a warp beam.


Warp, n. [AS. wearp; akin to Icel. varp a casting,
throwing, Sw. varp the draught of a net, Dan. varp a towline,
OHG. warf warp, G. werft. See Warp, v.]
1. (Weaving) The threads which are extended lengthwise in the
loom, and crossed by the woof.

2. (Naut.) A rope used in hauling or moving a vessel, usually
with one end attached to an anchor, a post, or other fixed
object; a towing line; a warping hawser.

3. (Agric.) A slimy substance deposited on land by tides,
etc., by which a rich alluvial soil is formed. --Lyell.

4. A premature casting of young; -- said of cattle, sheep,
etc. [Prov. Eng.]

5. Four; esp., four herrings; a cast. See Cast, n., 17.
[Prov. Eng.] --Wright.

6. [From Warp, v.] The state of being warped or twisted;
as, the warp of a board.

Warp beam, the roller on which the warp is wound in a loom.


Warp fabric, fabric produced by warp knitting.

Warp frame, or Warp-net frame, a machine for making warp
lace having a number of needles and employing a thread for
each needle.

Warp knitting, a kind of knitting in which a number of
threads are interchained each with one or more contiguous
threads on either side; -- also called warp weaving.

Warp lace, or Warp net, lace having a warp crossed by
weft threads.

Synonyms: buckle, buckle, deflection, distort, falsify, garble, heave, warping

See Also: aberrance, aberrancy, aberration, belie, change surface, cloth, deformation, deviance, distorted shape, distortion, distortion, fabric, lift, mangle, material, misrepresent, murder, mutilate, textile, thread, weave, yarn

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