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twitch

twitʃ11 senses · 6 ms
Level B2
local copy0 msLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0Wiktionary contributors
noun/twɪt͡ʃ/[tʰw̥ɪt͡ʃ]
  1. 1

    A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.countableuncountable

    • I saw a little twitch in the man's face, and knew he was lying.
  2. 2

    Action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one.countableinformaluncountable

  3. 3

    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.countableuncountable

    • THE TWITCH is a short stick of strong ash, about the size of a mopstick, with a hole pierced near the end, through which is passed a piece of strong but small cord, and tied in a loop large enough to admit the open hand freely.
  4. 4

    A brief, contractile response of a skeletal muscle elicited by a single maximal volley of impulses in the neurons supplying it.countableuncountable

  5. 5

    The sudden narrowing almost to nothing of a vein of ore.countableuncountable

  6. 6

    A trip taken in order to observe a rare bird.countableuncountable

    • Siberian Crane [...] Following its departure, there was much speculation that rediscovery at a less inaccessible locality would lead to one of the great twitches of 1981; alas, this was not to be.
verb/twɪt͡ʃ/[tʰw̥ɪt͡ʃ]
  1. 1

    To perform a twitch; spasm.intransitive

    • His fingers were nervously twitching.
  2. 2

    To cause to twitch; spasm.transitive

    • Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses...
  3. 3

    To jerk sharply and briefly.transitive

    • to twitch somebody's sleeve for attention
  4. 4

    To exert oneself.obsolete

  5. 5

    To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.transitive

    • Marsh Sandpiper [...] This delicate ‘mini shank’ has graced our shores for the past six successive years and has become increasingly easy to twitch.
    • "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."
  6. 6

    To engage in twitching.intransitive

    • "The Birdwatchers Handbook ... will be a clear asset to those who 'twitch' in Europe."
noun/twɪt͡ʃ/[tʰw̥ɪt͡ʃ]
  1. 1

    couch grass (Elymus repens; a species of grass, often considered as a weed)uncountable

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