convoluted

3 definitions found

convoluted - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Convoluted \Con"vo*lu`ted\, a.
     1. Having convolutions.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              beaks recurved and convoluted like a ram's horn.
                                                    --Pennant.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Folded in tortuous windings.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A highly convoluted brain.            --North Amer.
                                                    Rev.
        [1913 Webster]

  coiled \coiled\ (koild), adj.
     curled or wound especially in concentric rings or spirals;
     as, a coiled snake ready to strike; the rope lay coiled on
     the deck. Opposite of uncoiled.
  
     Note: [Narrower terms: coiling, helical, spiral, spiraling, volute, voluted, whorled
           ; convolute rolled longitudinally upon itself
           ;curled, curled up;
           involute closely coiled so that the axis is obscured)
           ; looped, whorled; twined, twisted;
           convoluted; involute, rolled esp of petals or leaves in bud: having margins rolled inward)
           ; wound]
           [WordNet 1.5]

convoluted - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  convoluted
      adj 1: rolled longitudinally upon itself; "a convolute petal"
             [syn: convolute, convoluted]
      2: highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; "the
         Byzantine tax structure"; "Byzantine methods for holding on
         to his chairmanship"; "convoluted legal language";
         "convoluted reasoning"; "the plot was too involved"; "a
         knotty problem"; "got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering";
         "Oh, what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott;
         "tortuous legal procedures"; "tortuous negotiations lasting
         for months" [syn: Byzantine, convoluted, involved,
         knotty, tangled, tortuous]