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# distort

verb (distort, distorts, distorted, distorting); noun distortion; adjective distorted

«distort» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To change the shape of something so it looks twisted or wrong, as in a fun-house mirror that distorts your face. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#m1)
2. To change facts or words so they give a false idea, as in «distort the truth». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#m2)
3. To change a sound so it is unclear or crackly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science, lenses and water can distort light so things look bent, like a straw in a glass. In media and news lessons, «distorting facts» is a warning about propaganda and fake news. In music, guitars use «distortion» on purpose. In maths, map projections distort the size of countries near the poles.

### Examples

- The curved mirror distorted my face. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x1)
- The newspaper distorted what the mayor said. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x2)
- Water distorts the look of a pencil in a glass. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x3)
- The speaker was too loud and distorted the music. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x4)
- Maps distort the size of Greenland. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x5)
- Don't distort the facts to win an argument. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x6)
- As she looked across the sea, all there grew darker; a heavy mist came rolling onwards, and clung to bush and tree, distorting them into fantastic shapes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/#x7)

### Note

Regular verb. Noun «distortion». Related idea: «exaggerate» makes something bigger; «distort» bends it into a wrong shape.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «distort» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distort/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«distort» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/distort.html) on Mova free.