general, signifies the action of twisting or wresting a member of the body out of its natural situation. Rope-dancers accustom themselves to contortions of their limbs from their youth, to render the fibres of their articulations lax, and supple to all kinds of postures.

medicine, has many significations. 1. It denotes the iliac passion. 2. An incomplete dislocation, when a bone is in part, but not entirely, forced from its articulation. 3. A dislocation of the vertebrae of the back side-ways, or a crookedness of these vertebrae. And, 4. A disorder of the head, in which it is drawn towards one side, either by a spasmodic contraction of the muscles on the same side, or a palsy of the antagonist muscles on the other.

Contortæ, the name of the 30th order in Linnaeus's CONTOUR's Fragments of a natural method, consisting of plants which have a single petal that is twisted or bent to one side. This order contains the following genera, viz. echites, cerbera, gardenia, genipa, microcenum, nerium, periploca, rawolfia, tabernaeomantana, vinca, apocynum, acflepias, comeraria, ceropogia, cynanchum, plumeria, tapelia.