twitch

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /twɪt͡ʃ/, [tʰw̥ɪt͡ʃ] Rhymes: -ɪtʃ === Etymology 1 === From Middle English twicchen, from Old English *twiċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *twikkijan (“to nail, pin, fasten, clasp, pinch”). Cognate with English tweak, Low German twikken, German Low German twicken (“to pinch, pinch off”), zweckōn and gizwickan (> German zwicken (“to pinch”)). ==== Noun ==== twitch (countable and uncountable, plural twitches) A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm. Synonym: tic (informal) Action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one. (farriery) A stick with a hole in one end through which passes a loop, which can be drawn tightly over the upper lip or an ear of a horse and twisted to keep the animal quiet during minor surgery. Synonym: barnacle (physiology) A brief, contractile response of a skeletal muscle elicited by a single maximal volley of impulses in the neurons supplying it. (mining) The sudden narrowing almost to nothing of a vein of ore. (birdwatching) A trip taken in order to observe a rare bird. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ===== References ===== Twitch in The Free Dictionary (Medicine) ==== Verb ==== twitch (third-person singular simple present twitches, present participle twitching, simple past and past participle twitched) (intransitive) To perform a twitch; spasm. (transitive) To cause to twitch; spasm. (transitive) To jerk sharply and briefly. (obsolete) To exert oneself. [15th–17th c.] (birdwatching, transitive) To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one. (birdwatching, intransitive) To engage in twitching. ===== Usage notes ===== When used of birdwatchers by outsiders, this term frequently carries a negative connotation. ===== Derived terms ===== atwitch twitchable twitcher twitching untwitchable ===== Translations ===== ==== Descendants ==== → Dutch: twitchen === Etymology 2 === alternate of quitch ==== Noun ==== twitch (uncountable) couch grass (Elymus repens; a species of grass, often considered as a weed) ===== Translations =====