To Twist
To Turn, To Sprain
transitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means twist, so the verb version is to twist.
捻る literally means "to twist," so you can use it for everything from turning the handle of a faucet to twisting your ankle in a soccer game. When combined with other words, it can also take on metaphorical meanings, such as 頭を捻る (to think hard) and 首を捻る (to puzzle over).
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
Your horse happened to twist his ankle, and he neighed (ひね) in discomfort. If it were you who had twisted your ankle, you probably would have screamed or shouted an expletive or something, but it's your horse, so he neighed. Poor guy. Put some ice on that thing for him.
Note that this can also be read as ねじる, though this reading is usually written in kana. While ひねる refers to general twisting — like turning or bending to the side — ねじる tends to have a nuance of twisting something multiple times, like a string or wire, often from both ends.
首を捻る
to twist one's neck, to be puzzled
頭を捻る
to think hard
じゃぐちを捻る
to turn on the faucet
それじゃあ次は、左右に体を捻るストレッチをします。
Okay, next we'll do a stretch where you twist your body from side to side.
そのスイッチを強く捻るとエンジンが入りますよ。
If you give that switch a hard twist, the engine will start.
パンの中にキムチが入っててさ、みんな首を捻ってたよ。
There was kimchi in the bread, and everyone looked puzzled by it.