twitch

Word family

twitch1 /twɪtʃ/ verb

1 [intransitiveI, transitiveT]SHAKE if a part of someone’s body twitches, or if they twitch it, it makes a small sudden movement （使）〔身体的某个部分〕颤动，抽动，抽搐

His mouth twitched slightly, and then he smiled.

嘴轻轻动了一下后，他笑了。

He twitched his eyebrows.

他皱了皱眉。

► see thesaurus at move

2 [transitiveT]PULL to move something quickly and suddenly 猛拉，急扯

Sarah twitched the reins, and we moved off.

萨拉猛地一拉缰绳，我们出发了。

Examples from the Corpus

twitch• A muscle on Yang's face twitched.• Limp and relaxed, my jaw was beginning to twitch.• The muscles of Artai's head and shoulders seemed to twitch.• The spiders reach the joining at the trunk and settle there, twitching.• Mac was very nervous. A muscle on his face began to twitch.• My right eyelid wouldn't stop twitching.• He was quiet, and his eyes were twitching.• Roberta's mouth twitched as she tried to stop herself laughing out loud.• Hazel stared, twitching his nose.• Greg's always twitching - it makes me nervous.• Her buttocks were twitching rhythmically to the music.• Amanda's legs were so thin ... A muscle in her neck twitched, twitched again.

mouth twitched• She came back in, looked at Kath and her mouth twitched.• Suddenly the corner of his mouth twitched.• But her mouth twitched in reply to his cheeky grin, and she sighed, visibly letting go some of her tension.• From the way her mouth twitched, it was plain she was on the verge of breaking down.• Melissa's arched eyebrows rose into her hairline and her mouth twitched suggestively.• The corner of Morris's mouth twitched up into his cheek and fell back.

Related topics: Illness & disability

twitch2 noun [countableC]

1 MIHBHa quick movement of a muscle, especially one that you cannot control 〔肌肉的〕抽搐，颤动

a nervous twitch

神经性抽搐

2 MOVE/CHANGE POSITIONa sudden quick movement 猛的一拉，一动

There was no movement in the house, not even a twitch of the curtains.

房子里没有一丝动静，连窗帘都没有掀动一下。

Examples from the Corpus

twitch• There was a twitch in my left cheek which I couldn't control.• A twitch of anxiety crossed my father's face.• The muscles involved in such tremors and twitches are skeletal, as opposed to cardiac or smooth muscle.• The ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch fibres varies between individuals and is determined by heredity.• Even before its last twitch they sprang forward, securing the room.• It's just a nervous twitch.• I laid it on soil; the shoulders managed a few slow twitches, pulled it an inch forward.• Some experiments on skeletal-muscle strips have demonstrated that caffeine increases contractions, which might seem to explain some of the twitch phenomena.

Origin twitch1

(1100-1200) Perhaps from Low German

twitch1 verbtwitch2 noun

Chinese

Corpus