twitch

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make a sudden, small, uncontrolled movement.

   His left eye began to twitch whenever he felt nervous.

2. 2
   noun

   A sudden, small, often involuntary movement.

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

3. 3
   verb

   To pull something sharply and briefly.

   The child twitched her mother's sleeve to get her attention.

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”)).

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