a. Abortive. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acus needle + torsion. ] (Med.) The twisting of an artery with a needle to arrest hemorrhage. [ Not in Stedman -- an obsolete procedure? ][ archaic ] AS [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. See Contortion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an island in the Mediterranean; with adjacent islets it constitutes a region of France.
Syn. -- Corse. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a region of France.
Syn. -- Corse. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. of or pertaining to Corsica (definition 2). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Same as Detortion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The sill or threshold of a door. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., from L. dorsum back + branchiae gills. ] (Zool.) A division of chætopod annelids in which the branchiæ are along the back, on each side, or on the parapodia. [ See Illusts. under Annelida and Chætopoda. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having branchiæ along the back; belonging to the Dorsibranchiata. -- n. One of the Dorsibranchiata. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Dorsum + -ferous; cf. F. dorsifère. ] (Biol.) Bearing, or producing, on the back; -- applied to ferns which produce seeds on the back of the leaf, and to certain Batrachia, the ova of which become attached to the skin of the back of the parent, where they develop; dorsiparous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dorsum + meson. ] (Anat.) See Meson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Dorsum + L. parere to bring forth. ] (Biol.) Same as Dorsiferous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Dorsum + ventral. ] 1. (Biol.) Having distinct upper and lower surfaces, as most common leaves. The leaves of the iris are not dorsiventral. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) See Dorsoventral. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Extort. ] Serving or tending to extort. [ R. ] Johnson. -- Ex*tor"sive*ly, adv. [R.] [1913 Webster]

n. Pertaining to, or having, a hobby or whim; eccentric; whimsical.[ Colloq. ] Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The condition or quality of being a horse; that which pertains to a horse. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fondness for, or interest in, horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. intortio a curling, crisping: cf. F. intorsion. See Intort, and cf. Intortion. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A winding, bending, or twisting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The bending or twining of any part of a plant toward one side or the other, or in any direction from the vertical. [ 1913 Webster ]

A horn or flask for holding powder, as for priming. [ Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of biting or gnawing. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Retortion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The tendency, as of a rope, to untwist after being twisted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. LL. torsio, fr. L. torquere, tortum, to twist. See Torture. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mech.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Angle of torsion (of a curve) (Geom.), the indefinitely small angle between two consecutive osculating planes of a curve of double curvature. --
Moment of torsion (Mech.) the moment of a pair of equal and opposite couples which tend to twist a body. --
Torsion balance (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, a scale for weighing in which the fulcra of the levers or beams are strained wires or strips acting by torsion. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to torsion; resulting from torsion, or the force with which a thread or wire returns to a state of rest after having been twisted round its axis; as, torsional force. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Elec.) A torsion balance used for measuring electric attraction or repulsion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Elec.) A galvanometer in which current is measured by torsion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. That part of a torsion balance from which the wire or filament is suspended. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. An autographic torsion meter. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Mech.) An instrument for determining the torque on a shaft, and hence the horse power of an engine, esp. of a marine engine of high power, by measuring the amount of twist of a given length of the shaft. Called also torsimeter, torsiometer, torsometer. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]