warp

/ˈwȯrp/

Middle English, from Old English wearp; akin to Old High German warf warp, Old English weorpan to throw, Old Norse verpa

noun

  1. a series of yarns extended lengthwise in a loom and crossed by the weft

  2. foundation, base

  3. a rope for warping or mooring a ship or boat

the warp of the economic structure is agriculture

verb

  1. to arrange (yarns) so as to form a warp

  2. to turn or twist out of or as if out of shape; especially : to twist or bend out of a plane

  3. to cause to judge, choose, or act wrongly or abnormally : pervert

deform distort contort warp means to mar or spoil by or as if by twisting. deform may imply a change of shape through stress, injury, or accident of growth. distort and contort both imply a wrenching from the natural or normal, but contort suggests a more involved twisting and a more grotesque and painful result.

noun

  1. foundation, base

the vigorous Anglo-Saxon base had become the warp and woof of English speech