No. 12,014 in French
tortiller
To twist, wriggle, or squirm.
In a sentence
Elle commence à tortiller une mèche de ses cheveux pendant qu'elle réfléchit.
She starts twisting a strand of her hair while she thinks.
The word "tortiller" is used here to describe the physical action of twisting or twirling something, specifically her hair.
Pour avancer dans cette discussion, il ne faudrait pas tortiller : il faut parler directement.
To progress in this discussion, one must not beat around the bush: one must speak directly.
The word "tortiller" is employed metaphorically to mean hesitating or not addressing a topic directly, extending its literal sense of twisting.
Le serpent tortillait son corps doucement en se déplaçant.
The snake slowly twisted its body as it moved.
In this sentence, "tortiller" describes the literal motion of twisting or curving, referring to the snake’s movements.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “tortiller” in actual French podcasts.
Find “tortiller” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays French podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there.
Get the appFrench books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).