And the unhappy wretch writhed about in such dreadful contortions that the other prisoners would have murdered Beatrix but for the intervention of the guards.
When I look upon a collection of these old shells, I can never divest myself of an impression that the contortions of a death-struggle have been made the pattern of living types, and with that the whole group has ended.
It is singular that forms so unusual and so contrary to the previous regularity of this group should accompany its last stage of existence, and seem to shadow forth by their strange contortions the final dissolution of their type.
The worm, moreover, stung in the greater number of its nerve-centres, lies on one side, motionless and incapable of bodily contortions or said an jerks of its hinder segments.
Their paralysis is incomplete, as is proved by their contortions when I irritate them and shown, on the other hand, by a very important fact.
Scarcely had the scalping knife touched his head, when it was again withdrawn with the most horrible contortions of the whole body of the Chippewa.
Now his enormous head rises high into the air, then his flukes are seen lashing everywhere, his huge body writhes in violent contortions from the agony the harpoon has inflicted.
None of those contortions of the strata above described have as yet been observed in the lower drift.
Yet three minutes later the same man is laughing at the contortions of a fellow-sufferer who has taken his place at the triangle.
Little boys of four or five may be seen on the outskirts of the practice-ground swaying their limbs and bodies in elaborate contortionswhich Europeans after a prolonged gymnastic training would execute very clumsily.
It has all the contortions of the sibyl without the inspiration.
For weeks he occupied himself in the asylum with peculiar jumping, and contortions of the body which he called gymnastics, he sang and declaimed.
The reason of this is not mentioned: it cannot however be thought a very serious one, since nothing can be more comical than their gestures, their contortions of body, and the signs they make with the head to each other.
It can only be favorable to those who have contracted ill habits of grimacing or of contortions of the face while they perform.
They sing in this dance, which is only a slow march without any high motions, but with a great many contortions of body and arms.
She had made several attempts in the dull light, but without much success, to see him as he watched the contortions of the acrobats, which apparently he enjoyed more than to her seemed reasonable.
The man did so, with many strangecontortions of his powerful frame, and then put down the pole and returned to the stove.
Jacob staggered to his feet with many contortionsand grimaces.
A violent effort or efforts with contortionsof the body; agony; distress.
To play tricks by various movements and contortions of the body; to perform the feats of an acrobat.
To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
The [p238] baffled devils make some frightful contortions and then depart.
To face types, writes August Bernard, the type-caster must make the contortions of a maniac.
He tried this pose, he tried that, but in spite of his contortions he endured much of the seven hours' journey in acute discomfort and the latter part in torture.
The object of these motions and contortions seems to be, to separate the exterior skin, now become dry and rigid, from the new one just below it.
Now, however, his head was seen turned from the water; sometimes he lay parallel with the stream; and sometimes he appeared to be heading back for the woods, while his struggles and contortions betrayed the agony he was undergoing.
No; their lamentable cries precluded that supposition; besides, their odd attitudes and contortions bespoke terror and pain!
Large folds, however, are almost necessarily curves, but contortions are frequently angular (Fig.
With folds, as with waves, the small undulations are borne upon the large ones; but the contortions are not uniformly distributed.
That this horizontal pressure exists and is adequate in direction and amount, is proved by the folds and contortions of the cleaved strata; for, as shown in Fig.
Contortions are also most commonly found in thin-bedded, flexible rocks, such as shales and schists.
The black ash in America is particularly subject to contortions of the grain.
Last but not least of the products of the ash tree are the curious and beautiful contortions of the grain found in "burls" on the trunks of old trees of many species.
Finally, the mention of "strange and unusual contortions and much howling and groaning," seem to indicate that some other cause of death than the natural result of a pleurisy was in the writer's mind.
Barbara seeing the sudden changes in her colour, and contortions of her features, feared that she really was about to die; and hurriedly called their mother, who was in the next room.
Before the pile began its writhings and contortionsagain he must eat.
Then he crept into their place, grateful for so much, and lay and watched the strange writhings and contortions of the pile under the impact of the gale and the rising tide.
The contortions of the epileptic, the strange twitching of those afflicted with cholera, were all seized as proof that the bodies of men were filled with vile and malignant spirits.
Be that as it may, I was happy to be driven out of sight of this hideous object, whose contortionsand howlings were truly horrible.
They, sweet, sooty innocents, kept gibbering and pointing at the man with the black compasses in a manner so completely African and ludicrous, that I thought their contortions the best part of the entertainment.
Thereupon Raymond fouled balls and went through contortions at the plate till he was out on strikes.
Weir managed by quick contortions to get through his time at bat without being hit.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "contortions" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
