twitches

Noun

twitch (countable and uncountable, plural twitches)

1. 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

2. (informal) Action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one.
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.
   • 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

4. A brief, contractile response of a skeletal muscle elicited by a single maximal volley of impulses in the neurons supplying it.
5. The sudden narrowing almost to nothing of a vein of ore.
6. 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

See all 14 meanings of twitch