"twist the knife" meaning in All languages combined

See twist the knife on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-twist the knife.wav Forms: twists the knife [present, singular, third-person], twisting the knife [participle, present], twisted the knife [participle, past], twisted the knife [past]
Etymology: Derived from the fact that the act of literally twisting a knife that is still inside someone who has just been stabbed will widen the wound and make it even more painful. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} twist the knife (third-person singular simple present twists the knife, present participle twisting the knife, simple past and past participle twisted the knife)
  1. (informal, figuratively) To deliberately do or say something to worsen a difficult situation or increase a person's distress, irritation, or anger. Tags: figuratively, informal Synonyms: kick someone when they are down, rub salt in the wound, turn the knife, twist the knife in the wound, turn the knife in the wound Derived forms: knife twister, twist of the knife Translations (Translations): vääntää veistä haavassa (Finnish), remuer le couteau dans la plaie (French), girare il coltello nella piaga (Italian), pogarszać [imperfective] (Polish), pogarszyć [perfective] (Polish), hacer sangre (Spanish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "Derived from the fact that the act of literally twisting a knife that is still inside someone who has just been stabbed will widen the wound and make it even more painful.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twists the knife",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twisting the knife",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twisted the knife",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twisted the knife",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "twist the knife (third-person singular simple present twists the knife, present participle twisting the knife, simple past and past participle twisted the knife)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "knife twister"
        },
        {
          "word": "twist of the knife"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Lucy Dillon, Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts, Berkley, published 2011, →ISBN, page 198:",
          "text": "\"And I'm not seeing anyone,\" she added, just to twist the knife — in whom, she wasn't sure.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deliberately do or say something to worsen a difficult situation or increase a person's distress, irritation, or anger."
      ],
      "id": "en-twist_the_knife-en-verb-obKWGeJR",
      "links": [
        [
          "deliberately",
          "deliberately"
        ],
        [
          "worsen",
          "worsen"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "increase",
          "increase"
        ],
        [
          "distress",
          "distress"
        ],
        [
          "irritation",
          "irritation"
        ],
        [
          "anger",
          "anger"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, figuratively) To deliberately do or say something to worsen a difficult situation or increase a person's distress, irritation, or anger."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "kick someone when they are down"
        },
        {
          "word": "rub salt in the wound"
        },
        {
          "word": "turn the knife"
        },
        {
          "word": "twist the knife in the wound"
        },
        {
          "word": "turn the knife in the wound"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "vääntää veistä haavassa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "remuer le couteau dans la plaie"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "girare il coltello nella piaga"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "pogarszać"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "pogarszyć"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "hacer sangre"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-twist the knife.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/54/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-twist_the_knife.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-twist_the_knife.wav.mp3",
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    }
  ],
  "word": "twist the knife"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "knife twister"
    },
    {
      "word": "twist of the knife"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Derived from the fact that the act of literally twisting a knife that is still inside someone who has just been stabbed will widen the wound and make it even more painful.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twists the knife",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twisting the knife",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twisted the knife",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twisted the knife",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "twist the knife (third-person singular simple present twists the knife, present participle twisting the knife, simple past and past participle twisted the knife)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Lucy Dillon, Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts, Berkley, published 2011, →ISBN, page 198:",
          "text": "\"And I'm not seeing anyone,\" she added, just to twist the knife — in whom, she wasn't sure.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deliberately do or say something to worsen a difficult situation or increase a person's distress, irritation, or anger."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "deliberately",
          "deliberately"
        ],
        [
          "worsen",
          "worsen"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "increase",
          "increase"
        ],
        [
          "distress",
          "distress"
        ],
        [
          "irritation",
          "irritation"
        ],
        [
          "anger",
          "anger"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, figuratively) To deliberately do or say something to worsen a difficult situation or increase a person's distress, irritation, or anger."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-twist the knife.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/54/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-twist_the_knife.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-twist_the_knife.wav.mp3",
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    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "kick someone when they are down"
    },
    {
      "word": "rub salt in the wound"
    },
    {
      "word": "turn the knife"
    },
    {
      "word": "twist the knife in the wound"
    },
    {
      "word": "turn the knife in the wound"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "vääntää veistä haavassa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "remuer le couteau dans la plaie"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "girare il coltello nella piaga"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "pogarszać"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "pogarszyć"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "hacer sangre"
    }
  ],
  "word": "twist the knife"
}

Download raw JSONL data for twist the knife meaning in All languages combined (3.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.