Dictionary Definition
twitch n : a sudden muscle spasm; especially one
caused by a nervous condition [syn: twitching, vellication]
Verb
1 make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion; "his
face is twitching" [syn: jerk]
2 move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled
motions; "The patient's legs were jerkings" [syn: jerk]
3 toss with a sharp movement so as to cause to
turn over in the air [syn: flip]
4 squeeze tightly between the fingers; "He
pinched her behind"; "She squeezed the bottle" [syn: pinch, squeeze, twinge, tweet, nip]
5 move or pull with a sudden motion
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /twɪtʃ/
- Rhymes with: -ɪtʃ
Noun
- A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
Translations
brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement
out of place and then back again
act of bird spotting
- Finnish: bongaus
Verb
- To perform a twitch;
spasm.
-
- "Why is it that you twitch whenever I say Faith?" — http://www.mindspring.com/~randyhoward/new_page_6.htm
-
- To jerk sharply and briefly.
- To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.
- 1995, Quarterly Review of Biology vol. 70 p. 348:
- "The Birdwatchers Handbook ... will be a clear asset to those who twitch in Europe."
- 2003, Mark Cocker, Birders: Tales of a Tribe http://books.google.com/books?id=tv-Noj1Fvc0C, ISBN 0802139965, page 52:
- "But the key revelation from twitching that wonderful Iceland Gull on 10 March 1974 wasn't its eroticism. It was the sheer innocence of it."
- 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time http://books.google.com/books?id=fWLmpqL4EMsC, ISBN 1741145287, page 119:
- "I hadn't seen John since I went to Adelaide to (unsuccessfully) twitch the '87 Northern Shoveler, when I was a skinny, eighteen- year-old kid. "
Translations
to perform a twitch; spasm
- Finnish: nytkähtää
to jerk sharply and briefly
- Finnish: nykäistä
to spot a bird
- Finnish: bongata
Usage notes
When used of birdwatchers by ignorant outsiders,
this term frequently carries a negative connotation.
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
Twitch may refer to:
- Muscle
twitch, a muscle contraction
- Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
- Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle contractions
- Spasm, a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, group of muscles, hollow organ, or orifice
- Tic, a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic movement or sound that involves discrete groups of muscles
In entertainment:
- Twitch (film), a short film directed by Leah Meyerhoff
- Twitch (album), by Ministry
- Twitch (Aldo Nova album)
- Twitch (EP), by Jebediah
- Max "Twitch" Williams, a police officer in the comic series Sam and Twitch, a spinoff of Spawn
In other uses:
- Twitch (device), a device used to restrain horses
- "Twitch", in birdwatching, to pursue and observe a rare bird
See also
- Twitch game, a computer or video game in which the player must react quickly
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
ache,
acute pain, agonize,
ail, anguish, bite, blanch, blench, bob, bobble, boring pain, bounce, breath, bump, charley horse, clutch, coup, crack, cramp, cramps, crick, darting pain, didder, dither, falter, feel pain, feel the
pangs, fidget, flash, flick, flip, flip out, flirt, flounce, flutter, freak out on, fulgurant
pain, get high on, girdle pain, glow, gnawing, go pitapat, grasp, grimace, griping, half a jiffy, half a
mo, half a second, half a shake, have a misery, have the fidgets,
have the shakes, heave,
hitch, hurt, instant, itch, jar, jerk, jiff, jiffy, jig, jigger, jigget, jiggle, jog, joggle, jolt, jostle, jumping pain, kink, lancinating pain, lug, lurch, microsecond, millisecond, minute, moment, nip, palpitate, pang, pant, paroxysm, pinch, pluck, pound, prick, quake, quaver, quiver, rictus, sec, second, seizure, shake, sharp pain, shiver, shock, shoot, shooting, shooting pain,
shrink, shudder, smart, snake, snap, snatch, spasm, split second, squirm, stab, stabbing pain, start, stitch, stroke, sudden pull, suffer, swell, swell with emotion,
thrill, thrill to,
throb, throes, tic, tick, tingle, tingle with excitement,
tormen, toss, toss and turn, tremble, tremor, trice, tumble, turn on to, tweak, twinge, twink, twinkle, twinkling, twist and turn,
twitter, two shakes,
vellicate, wiggle, wince, wink, wobble, wrench, wriggle, writhe, yank, yerk