A twister is a powerful, spinning column of air that reaches from a thunderstorm down to the ground, also called a tornado. Twisters form when warm and cool air masses collide in just the right way, creating a vortex that can spin at hundreds of miles per hour. The funnel cloud twists and rotates as it moves across the landscape.

Twisters are most common in the central United States, in an area nicknamed “Tornado Alley,” where conditions are often perfect for them to form. They can be incredibly destructive, tearing roofs off houses, uprooting trees, and tossing cars through the air. Weather scientists called meteorologists study twisters to understand how they form and to give people advance warning so they can take shelter.

The word can also refer to the game Twister, where players contort their bodies to place hands and feet on colored circles, often ending up twisted into hilarious positions. Or you might call something a tongue twister if it's a phrase that's difficult to say quickly, like “red leather, yellow leather.”