twitching

/ˈtwɪt͡ʃɪŋ/

twitching is the present participle and gerund of twitch.

Noun

twitching (countable and uncountable, plural twitchings)

The motion of something that twitches.
- Your twitchings and jouncings disturb me excessively.1843, The Knickerbocker, volumes 21-22, page 73
Birdwatching by people (twitchers) who travel long distances to see rare species or add a new species to a personal list.
- Between the scientific austerities of the Rarities Committee and the worst excesses of those suffering from the twitching syndrome (vide the man whose wife managed to deflect him via the telephone and the AA at Newmarket from a Bluethroat in Norfolk to a Wall-creeper in Dorset) lies a considerable...1974, “Letters”, in British Birds, volume 67, number 1, London, page 30
(lumbering) Using a horse team to pull logs.
- A great deal of horse-work was therefore required, and in twitching the logs[..]1861, Journal of the Legislative Council of the Province of New Brunswick, page 68

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
(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
(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

twitching (comparative more twitching, superlative most twitching)

What does twitching mean?: Twitching means the motion of something that twitches.
What is twitching the present participle and gerund of?: Twitching is the present participle and gerund of twitch.
What part of speech is twitching?: Twitching can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce twitching?: Twitching is pronounced /ˈtwɪt͡ʃɪŋ/.
What is the plural of twitching?: The plural of twitching is twitchings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: twitching (page history and authors); twitch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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