twitch

/twɪt͡ʃ/

twitch noun: a brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.

Noun (1)

twitch (countable and uncountable, plural twitches)

A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
- I saw a little twitch in the man's face, and knew he was lying.
Synonyms:

tic
(informal) Action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one.
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.
- 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.1861, John Henry Walsh, The Horse in the Stable and in the Field
Synonyms:

barnacle
A brief, contractile response of a skeletal muscle elicited by a single maximal volley of impulses in the neurons supplying it.
The sudden narrowing almost to nothing of a vein of ore.
A trip taken in order to observe a rare bird.
- 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.1982, British Birds, volume 75, number 11, London, page 498

Verb

twitch (third-person singular simple present twitches, present participle twitching, simple past and past participle twitched)

(intransitive) To perform a twitch; spasm.
- His fingers were nervously twitching.
(transitive) To cause to twitch; spasm.
- Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses...1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
(transitive) To jerk sharply and briefly.
- to twitch somebody's sleeve for attention
- Thrice they twitched the diamond in her ear.1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, canto III
(obsolete) To exert oneself.
(transitive) To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.
- Marsh Sandpiper [...] This delicate ‘mini shank’ has graced our shores for the past six successive years and has become increasingly easy to twitch.1982, British Birds, volume 75, number 11, London, page 504
- "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."2003, Mark Cocker, Birders: Tales of a Tribe, →ISBN, page 52
(intransitive) To engage in twitching.
- "The Birdwatchers Handbook ... will be a clear asset to those who 'twitch' in Europe."1995, Quarterly Review of Biology, volume 70, page 348

Noun (2)

twitch (uncountable)

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

Proper noun capitalized: Twitch

Twitch

A live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming.
- On the Amazon Live homepage, fans can also chat with the host and one another in a Twitch-like side panel next to the live video.2020 July 15, Sarah Perez, “Amazon Influencer Program opens to live streamers for broadcasting to Amazon Live”, in TechCrunch, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2020

twitch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

twitch in Hindi

twitch, spasm, convulsion: झटका jhaṭkā

twitch in Tamil

திடீரிச்சுரிப்பு, இழுத்தல், இழுப்பு, பிடி, விலங்கு அடக்கும் கயிறு

twitch in Marathi

twitch, spasm, convulsion: झटका j̈haṭkā
to twitch: लवणे lavṇe

twitch in Urdu

چھیننا, چرانا, جھٹکنا, نوچنا, پھڑکنا

More languagesFewer languages

twitch in Bengali: টুইচ
twitch in Telugu: గింజుకొను giñjukonu
twitch in Malayalam: പറിച്ചെടുക്കുക, വിറപ്പിക്കുക, കോച്ചിവലിക്കുക
twitch in Kannada: ಸ್ನಾಯು ಸೆಳೆತ, ತುಡಿತ, ತುಯ್ತ, ಸ್ಪಂದನ
twitch in Punjabi: ਟਵਿੱਚ
twitch in Odia: ଟ୍ବିଚ୍
twitch in Nepali: ट्विच
twitch in Tagalog: kislot, kibot, piksi, pasag
twitch in Arabic: زِيَار ziyār
twitch in Indonesian: kedut

Examples of twitch in a sentence

Whenever he has a pair of aces, his eyelids twitch.
And with that, his twitching ceased.
And with that, he ceased twitching.

All 40 example sentences with twitch

Synonyms of twitch

tic
barnacle

Forms of twitch

Noun
plural	twitches
Verb
third-person singular present	twitches
present participle	twitching
past participle	twitched
past	twitched

Plural of twitch: twitches

Origin of twitch

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”)).

alternate of quitch

Inspired by the term twitch gameplay.

Words formed from twitch

Phrases with twitch

Words that rhyme with twitch

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about twitch

What does twitch mean?: Twitch means a brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
What is twitch in Hindi?: Twitch in Hindi is झटका (jhaṭkā). See Twitch meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is twitch?: Twitch can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce twitch?: Twitch is pronounced /twɪt͡ʃ/.
What is the plural of twitch?: The plural of twitch is twitches.

Words near twitch in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-twitch.wav.

Cite this entry: “twitch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/twitch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.