torsion

1 a tortuous and twisted shape or position; "they built a tree house in the tortuosities of its boughs"; "the acrobat performed incredible contortions" [syn: tortuosity, tortuousness, contortion, crookedness]

2 a twisting force [syn: torque]

English

Etymology

From , from torsio, from torqueo. See torture, -tort.

Noun

1. The act of turning or twisting, or the state of being twisted; the twisting or wrenching of a body by the exertion of a lateral force tending to turn one end or part of it about a longitudinal axis, while the other is held fast or turned in the opposite direction.
2. That force with which a thread, wire, or rod of any material, returns, or tends to return, to a state of rest after it has been twisted; torsibility.

angle of torsion (of a curve) (Geometry)

1. the indefinitely small angle between two consecutive osculating planes of a curve of double curvature.

moment of torsion

1. (Mechanics) the moment of a pair of equal and opposite couples which tend to twist a body.

torsion balance

1. (Physics), an instrument for estimating very minute forces, as electric or magnetic attractions and repulsions, by the torsion of a very slender wire or fiber having at its lower extremity a horizontal bar or needle, upon which the forces act.

torsion scale

1. a scale for weighing in which the fulcra of the levers or beams are strained wires or strips acting by torsion.

Translations