▪ I. twitch, n.1
(twɪtʃ)
Also 6 twycche, twytch-, twitche, 6–8 twich.
[f. twitch v.1]
1. An act of twitching; a sudden sharp pull or tug; a jerk; a pluck; a snatch.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §15 ‘The oxe is neuer wo, tyll he to the harowe goo’, And it is bycause it goeth by twytches. 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. ix. (1593) 211 Three times a twich Gaue Hercules, and could not wrinch my leaning breast him fro. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 431 A single twine, which is snapt in sunder with a twitch. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. xv. (Roxb.) 27/1 The bowes of the boat..would else be torne out with the twitches which the ship vnder saile would giue it. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 412 Then fix, with gentle twitch, the barbed hook. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 154 A twitch at her sleeve!..a bramble had caught at her gown passing by. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xvi. 169 He felt a twitch at his pocket, and..saw a child..carrying away a silk handkerchief. |
b. transf. and fig. or in fig. context. at a twitch, in a moment, without delay.
| 1528 Impeachm. Wolsey 174 in Furnivall Ball. fr. MSS. I. 357 They wold from þer bodyes þer hedis devyde, or hang them at A twycche. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe (1871) 27 The city of Norwich, as in the Præludium hereof I had a twitch at. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church Porch xxxvii, Think not thy fame at ev'ry twitch will break. 1649 Milton Eikon. xxvii. Wks. 1851 III. 514 His Noose, which when he pleases to draw together with one twitch of his Negative, shall throttle a whole Nation. |
c. twitch-up, a pegged-down snare attached to an elastic sapling or the like, which springs up and strangles the game when sprung.
| 1885 W. T. Hornaday 2 Yrs. in Jungle xxxvi. 428 A fine, large porcupine..caught by a hind foot in a twitch-up. |
2. A sharp pain; a pinch, pang, twinge. Freq. of mental pain.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 440/1 We sustayn..euery man for himself the paynefull twitche of bodely death. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 118 Reward not thy sheepe (when ye take off his cote) with twitchis and patches. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 11 (1619) 441 The smarting twitches of our consciences. 1688 Wood Life 14 Nov. (O.H.S.) III. 282 A twich and paine in the instep. 1717 Prior Alma i. 458 Their Heart, descending to their Breeches, Must give their Stomach cruel twitches. 1796 F. Burney Camilla II. 421 [It] had caused his conscience to give him so many twitches, that it never let him rest a moment. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Imperfect Sympathies, My conscience..beginning to give some twitches. 1867 G. Easton Autobiog. xiii. 178 Sensations very similar to a twitch of toothache. |
3. † a. Forceps, tweezers. Obs. rare—1. (Cf. quitch n.2)
| 1596 P. Barrough Meth. Physick i. xxxvi. (ed. 3) 59 Take therfore a twich of siluer, & therewith lift up subtilly the vngle from the tunicle. |
b. A noose or loop; spec. a noose which may be tightened by twisting the stick to the end of which it is attached, used to compress the lip or muzzle of a horse to restrain him during a painful operation.
(Quot. 1623 is doubtful: cf. twitch v.1 3 b.)
| 1623 Middleton More Dissemblers iii. i. (1657) 34 Oh those dear Gipseys, they..eat sweet stoln Hens, pluckt over Pales or Hedges by a twitch. 1831 [Youatt] Horse xviii. 321 Among the minor methods of restraint..are the twitch and the barnacles. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life II. 297 That horribly cruel invention, the twitch, is..twisted..tightly round the poor brute's tender upper lip. 1910 T. Sheppard in Trans. E. Riding Antiq. Soc. XVI. 41 Two holes have been pierced on each side of the projecting portion of the stern, evidently to receive a lashing or twitch which would pass to and from the sides, thus holding them firmly against the stern-board. 1910 Times 19 Mar. 4/2 Twitches were used for holding vicious or nervous horses for veterinary purposes or shoeing, or washing the legs. |
4. Mining. A place in, or part of, a vein where it is compressed and narrowed.
| 1653 E. Manlove Lead-Mines 265 (E.D.S.) Cauke, Sparr, Lid-Stones, Twitches, Daulings, and Pees. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. s.v. Brassil, Some Veins that are Caukey are very subject to it; but more especially in Twitches, and hard Places. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 256, I saw coal..in the checks or twitches of those veins between the open bellies, not above one inch in thickness. 1821 W. Forster Section Strata Newcastle-on-Tyne, etc. (ed. 2) 236 Some..twitches carry a small rib of solid ore quite through. |
5. A quick, involuntary, usually slight movement of a muscle, etc., esp. of nervous origin; a convulsive or spasmodic jerk or quiver.
| 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 173 Any Medicine which so far vellicates the..Stomach and Bowels, as to draw them into convulsive Twitches. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 44 It is owing to these alterations that the mother so frequently feels those twitches, which are usually attended with pain. 1804 Med. Jrnl. XII. 112 Considerable pain in the head usually accompanied the convulsive twitches in the face. 1825 Scott Talism. xvii, Mark me the smallest twitch of the features, or wink of the eyelid. 1836 Random Recoll. Ho. Lords xiv. 315 A hasty scratch at the back of his head, accompanied with two or three twitches of his nose. 1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly (1904) 47/1 That side of his face was affected with a nervous twitch. |
6. A small lock of wool or flax twisted round the forefinger of the left hand in spinning.
| a 1801 Bloomfield Rural T., Rich. & Kate viii, She..laid aside her Lucks and Twitches. |
Add: 7. An occasion or instance of (obsessive) bird-watching; spec. an expedition made by a ‘twitcher’ (sense 4) to see a rare bird, or a gathering of bird-watchers in response to a reported sighting. slang.
| 1977 New Society 17 Nov. 341/1 You could say that, unwittingly, I'd gone on a short-haul twitch to see this yank at Tring. 1983 D. Tomlinson in Oddie & Tomlinson Big Bird Race 31 It is quite amazing how fast it [sc. time] passes during a 24-hour birdwatch, or twitch if you really want to call it that. 1987 Sunday Express Mag. 4 Oct. 31/2 His most dramatic twitch was flying from the Scillies to Fair Isle to see the yellow-browed bunting. 1988 New Scientist 3 Dec. 73/1 Only this June the appearance of his rosefinch on Orkney provoked the year's biggest ‘twitch’. |
▪ II. twitch, n.2
(twɪtʃ)
[Altered form of quitch n.1]
Couch-grass, Triticum repens; = couch n.2
| 1595 Lodge Fig for Momus iii. 48 If thou espie within thy curious knot, Some tangling twitch, that doth thy flowers rot. 1620 Markham Farew. Husb. (1625) 48 The sand that bringeth forth nothing but wyld Twitch, Bryars, Thorn-bush, and such like vndergrowth. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 264 Lands which are over-run with Twitch or Couch-grass. 1816 G. Sinclair Hort. Gram. Woburn. (1825) 222 The Trifolium medium is inadmissible [in alternate husbandry] on account of its creeping roots constituting what in arable lands is termed twitch. 1821 Clare Vill. Ministr. l. 202 The big clod..a hiding-place Breaking off the scorching sun Where the matted twitches run. 1827 ― Sheph. Cal. 29 From teazing twitch, that in the spongy soil, Clings round the coulter. 1884 F. J. Lloyd Science Agric. 256 Of the weeds..none is more common or more troublesome than twitch, or couch grass. |
b. attrib. and Comb.: twitch-drag (drag n. 2 e), a drag or rake for clearing land of twitch; twitch-fire, a fire for burning twitch or other weeds; twitch-grass, (a) Triticum repens; (b) a species of fox-tail grass, Alopecurus agrestis (Britten and Holland, 1886); twitch-rake = twitch-drag.
| 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln. 69 A *twitch drag..for tearing out twitch. |
| 1905 Eng. Dial. Dict., *Twitch-fire. 1908 [Miss Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 81 The sweet-smelling twitch..fire. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 312 *Twitch-grass is a very pernicious Weed to some Land. 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts X. 109, I sowed twitch-grass and rye-grass. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 8 The want of proper management..has suffered twitch-grass to become abundant. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 19 Sept. 6/1 In some wonderful way, twitch-grass sows itself on fields that were apparently clean. |
| 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln. 73 A *twitch rake, containing a double row of teeth. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 33 The Twitch-Rake..necessary for the clearing of certain descriptions of land from these, as well as other kinds of weeds. |
▪ III. twitch, v.1
(twɪtʃ)
Forms: 4 tuicche, 5 twych, 5–6 twycche, 6 twyche, twytche, twitche, 6–9 twich, 5– twitch. pa. tense and pple. 5 twychyde, 5– twitched, etc.; also 4 twiȝt, -e, Sc. tuiȝt, 4–5 twyȝt, -e, twyght, -e, twyte, twite, 4–7 twight.
[ME. twicchen (found earliest in the comb. to-twicchen), = LG. twikken, MHG. and G. zwicken (OHG. *zwicjan, pa. tense kizwicta), prob. representing and OE. *twiccan related to twiccian, twick v.]
1. trans. To give a sudden abrupt pull at; to pluck; to jerk; to pluck (a person) by some part of the body or dress; also, to pluck (the strings of a musical instrument, etc.).
| [c 1175–c 1350: see to-twitch.] c 1450 Mankind 608 in Macro Plays 23, I was twychyde by þe neke; þe game was be-gunne; A grace was, þe halter brast asondur. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxii. (1592) 341 Notwithstanding that our Lawe in euery line..doe reproue vs for it, and after a sort twich vs euery howre by the Cote, to pull vs from it. 1658 Bromhall Treat. Specters i. 44 This foul spirit often twitched and pulled them by the hair. 1704 Swift T. Tub xi, Providence either forgot or did not think it convenient to twitch me by the Elbow. 1715 S. Croxall Vision 15 His fellow Bard..twitch'd the sounding Chords in solemn State. 1791 Cowper Iliad iii. 458 She..twitch'd her fragrant robe. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xiii. 107 Their master twitched the rope, that was fastened round their necks. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 47 Such strength had they to twitch the thrumming string. 1849 J. Forbes Physic. Holiday ix. (1850) 90 The driver hardly twitched the reins or used the whip from first to last. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkb. 88 The rector went and twitched him by the sleeve. |
2. intr. To pull or pluck sharply or forcibly; to give a sharp pull or jerk (at something); to tug. Also fig.
| c 1305 St. Lucy 131 in E.E.P. (1862) 105 Hi gonne to drawe & tuicche And euere lai þis maide stille, hi ne miȝte hire enes icche. c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 265 That was wel twight [v.rr. twyȝt, twite] myn owene lyard boy. c 1460 Play Sacrament 512 Now set on, felouse,.. and pluke hys armes awey..; wat, y se he [? read y seye,] twycche felovse, a ryght. 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 210 When she sitteth always..twitching at hir feathers with hir beake. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 63 It seemed as if a legion of imps were twiching at him. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv., Diog. & Plato Wks. 1846 I. 455/1 Try to barter one with the other, amicably; and not to twitch and carp. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. iii. 222 The garment let not go. Already twitch The Demons at its skirts. 1913 E. Wharton Custom of Country i. ii, Fidgeting, twitching at her draperies,..when people were noticing her. |
3. a. trans. (With various advs. and preps.) To pull, draw, or take suddenly or with a jerk; to pull sharply or forcibly; to pluck, snatch. to twitch up (the strings of an instrument), to sound by plucking.
| c 1320 Sir Tristrem 1952 Þe bord he fond of tviȝt. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 1157 (1185) His swerde anon out of his shethe he twyghte. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1596 Hure swerdes out þay twyȝte. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 1038 That purs..in hond he hente, A letter there-of than oute he twight. 1530 Palsgr. 764/2, I twytche, I pull a thynge sodaynely or hastely, je happe... He twitched it out of my handes or I was ware. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jas. v. 38 b, Those riches wherin now you most folishly put your confidence, being twitched awaye. 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 141 Your hande being twitched away fearefully would make hir proceed the more eagerly. 1658 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. verse 14. iii. xv. §2. 302 Their fellows that were twitcht up by their gills from them even now with the anglers hook. 1674 Bunyan Light in Darkness Wks. (ed. Offor) I. 412 He is mocked, spit upon, His beard is twitched from His cheeks. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 448 Twitched from the perch, He gives the princely bird..to his voracious bag. 1791 A. Wilson in Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) II. 77 Come twitch up the strings to great ‘John Barleycorn’. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxi, One of the strings..catching the lock of the musket carried by one of the sentries..and twitching it out of his hand. 1865 Swinburne Atalanta 2010 The King twitched his reins in and leapt down. 1876 Trans. Clinical Soc. IX. 5 In this eye I had afterwards to twitch away the partially detached piece. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 28 As he names them they twitch off their caps and kneel. |
| fig. 1578 Chr. Prayers in Priv. Prayers (Parker Soc.) 557 Twitch our minds from time to time to the remembrance of so great happiness. 1653 J. Owen Dissert. Div. Just. Wks. 1852 X. 600 He twitches the argument various ways. |
b. To snatch by way of robbery or theft.
| 1607 Dekker & Wilkins Jests, etc. 39 He..gaue him a little Justle: and withall, twicht 3 l. out of his pocket. 1655 tr. Com. Hist. Francion ii. 33 To wander about the streets..purposely to try if they could handsomely twich a Cloak. 1849 Mrs. Carlyle Let. to Dr. Carlyle Dec. in New Lett. & Mem. (1903) II. 10 Mercifully it was near home that he [a small dog] was twitched up [by a dog-stealer]. |
† c. to twitch up, to hang. Obs.
| 1611 R. Bradley in Coryat's Crudities k ij, The Ducall Gallowes..Which twich him vp, when he offends their law. 1625 Sanderson Serm. Ps. cvi. 30 §22 To twitch up a poor sheep-stealer. |
d. Lumbering. See quots.
| 1835–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 262 He is a giant,..and can twitch a mill-log as easy as a yoke of oxen can. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer., To Twitch, to draw timber along the ground by a chain. Used by lumbermen in Maine. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (U.S. Dept. Agric., Forestry Bulletin lxi.), Skid, to draw logs from the stump to the skidway, landing, or mill... Syn. snake, twitch. |
4. To pinch and pull at with or as with pincers or the like; to nip; to hurt or pain, as by doing this. Also fig.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 544 (572) Thus am I with desir and reson twyght. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 5058 A wight..who is with greuous þoughtes twight. 1440 J. Shirley Dethe K. James (1818) 22 A paire sharpe tangis, with the which he twitched and all to tare thare skynne and flessh. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. (1807) III. 184 To twitch a quareller with such pinsars as wherewith afore he had nipt an other. a 1652 Brome Eng. Moor v. i, Had..both been kil'd indeed, as you in jest, Where had been then your witty subtilty..? Ha! have I twight ye there? a 1680 Charnock Attrib. God (1834) I. 19 Something in him twitching him upon the pursuit of uncomely actions. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 174 Such Purges as vellicate and twitch the Nerves. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 144 His heart twitched him with a kind of compunction. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles iv. 31 [He] was twitched by a momentary surprise, but directly recovered himself. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xiii, I am tickled and twitched all over. |
5. intr. Mining. Of a vein of ore: To contract; with out, to come to an end; = pinch v. 14; also trans. of the containing rock: to converge upon and contract or close (a vein of ore); cf. pinch v. 11.
| 1709 T. Robinson Nat. Hist. Westmld. & Cumbld. xiv. 80 When the Vein opens wide in some place, and again closeth, or as the Miners speak, Twitcheth at both Ends, this is called a Belly of Ore, or Pipe-Ore. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. V j, The Vein keeping a reasonable Compass, and cannot be said to be Twitched. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 255 The coal..grew thinner towards the ends of the belly or concavity of the vein, and it soon dwindled away to nothing, and twitched out entirely. 1836 R. Furness Medicus-Magus 17 Where wough or rider twitch'd a leading fast. |
6. a. trans. To draw tight by means of a cord or the like; to tie, fasten, secure tightly or firmly. Also with the cord as object. Now dial.
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 63 They twitch the offender about the waist with a towell,..pricking him in the body, until they have drawn him within the compass of a span. 1634 T. Johnson tr. Parey's Chirurg. vii. xxii. (1678) 186 Ganglia..must be tied with a string at the root, and every day twitched harder and harder. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 66 Twitch the other cooarde a little below the mouth of the newe hive. 1729 Law Serious C. xix. (1732) 354 Her Stays which her Mother had ordered to be twitch'd so strait [etc.]. 1809 T. Donaldson Poems 191 The Shoon indeed did leuk fu' weel,..Ye'd twitcht them weel thegither. 1877 Holderness Gloss. s.v., Twitch thi shavs (sheaves) tighther. |
b. To castrate by means of a cord looped over the testicles and drawn tight; see also quot. 1841.
| 1831 [Youatt] Horse xii. 227 To the practice of some farmers, of twitching their colts at an early period, sometimes even so early as a month, we have stronger objection. 1841 Hartshorne Salopia Antiq. s.v. Twitchel, To twitch a horse, or apply to him a twitchel or twitch. 1877 in N.W. Linc. Gloss. |
7. a. To draw up (a limb, etc.) sharply or with a jerk; to move (the skin, etc.) spasmodically or convulsively.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §108 The stryng halte..maketh him to twyche vp his legge sodeynly, and maketh hym to halte. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 132 Ride him vpon new-plowed Lands, or in Wayes that are deepe and heauie, for that will make him twitch vp his legges, and strike them cleane and high. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 203 The cows..Twitching slow their fly-bit hides. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xviii, A white rabbit..was twitching its nose with much content on a box full of bran. 1897 W. C. Hazlitt Four Gen. Lit. Fam. I. iii. i. 239 As a young man [he] had a way of twitching his ears. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 512 He rolled his eyes, clenched his hands, and twitched both arms and legs. |
b. intr. Of a nerve, etc.: To twinge, ‘shoot’.
| a 1845 Hood True Story ii, Why then they [teeth] only twitch'd the quicker. |
8. a. intr. To proceed in a jerking or irregular way (obs. rare); now always in reference to involuntary bodily movements: to move in a jerky, spasmodic, or convulsive manner; to jerk, jump, start. Also refl. (const. into).
| 1592 Nashe Strange News G iij, The Hexamiter verse..goes twitching and hopping in our language like a man running vpon quagmiers vp the hill in one Syllable and downe the dale in another. 1832 H. Martineau Weal & Woe vii, His bony fingers sometimes twitching, sometimes drooping with an appearance of utter helplessness. 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 217, I tried to keep my countenance,..but it would not do. My muscles began to twitch. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lviii, If the Major had twitched before, he started now. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 513 His mouth twitched, though his eyes gazed steadily. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. v. 87 In the last convulsion twitching. 1885 Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. 15 Some of the younger children had twitched themselves into wavering shadows [in a photograph]. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 519 In 2 [cases] the eyes ‘had been rolled about’, and in 2 others they had twitched. 1930 ‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 31 The faintest suspicion of a smile would twitch round his lips. |
b. intr. To go with a sudden swift motion; to dart, shoot.
| 1836 Partington Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. II. 139/2 It [the shag] floats with wonderful buoyancy in the air, twitches down to the water with the rapidity of lightning. |
9. Comb.: twitch-ballock, an earwig; also, a large black beetle; twitch-bell, an earwig; twitch-clock, -clog, a cockroach. All dial.
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1023 The Northern English by an obscene name call it [the earwig] *Twich-ballock. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Twitch-ballock, the large black beetle. Lanc. |
| 1790 Grose Provinc. Gloss. (ed. 2), *Twitchbell, an earwig. North. 1825 in Brockett N.C. Words. 1863 in Robson Bards of Tyne 237 Nee spiders an twitchbells to 'larm ye. |
| 1876 J. Hartley Yorksher Puddin' 187 Boxes full o' butterflies, an buzzards, an *twitchclocks. |
Hence twitched ppl. a. (a) gen.; (b) spec., twitchy, irritable, ‘rattled’. slang.; ˈtwitching ppl. a.
| 1567 Drant Horace, Epist. vi. D j, If that thy sydes, or Renes becume With twitchinge stitche attainted. 1580 Babington Exp. Lord's Prayer (1596) 274 His heart smote him,..and the woorde importeth a twiching smart. 1700 Dryden Fables, Theod. & Hon. 372 She..fear'd at ev'ry step a twitching spright behind. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 5 The spinning-top whirl'd from the twitching string. 1881 Mivart Cat 137 The muscle by its contraction effects those twitching movements of which the cat's skin is capable. 1883 G. Meredith Day Dau. Hades vii, His twitched lips puffing to tell In music his tears and his need. 1959 P. Townend Died o' Wednesday xii. 216 He or she is likely to be..worried..‘twitched to the eyebrows’ as the flying boys have it. 1981 S. Jackman Game of Soldiers i. i. 16 The C.O.'s in there and he's a bit twitched. |
Add: [8.] c. To participate in the activity of a ‘twitcher’ (sense 4); to watch obsessively for or spot rare birds. Also trans., to observe (a rarity). slang.
| 1977 New Society 17 Nov. 341/2 Those now in their thirties have been twitching for maybe 20 years. 1986 Financial Times 12 Apr. p. xii/1 Birdwatchers twitch busily among the sedges, the occasional one lucky enough to glimpse the shy avocet. 1988 Natural World Autumn 9/3 A little bunting was ‘twitched’ on a tip..by some 250 people! |
d. Of a motor vehicle, etc.: to judder slightly or veer momentarily sideways, esp. when travelling at high speed. Also const. out. colloq.
| 1979 Motorcycling Manual (Motorcycling Monthly) 10/1 (caption), This successfully overcomes the tendency to twitch which has been a fault with many earlier shaft-drive bikes. 1983 N.Y. Times 23 Oct. v. 10/4 In heavy cornering, the tail does tend to twitch out a bit. 1988 Rally Car Oct. 34/3 Even the bump couldn't throw the car off its balance, although when Simon took it flat out the car did twitch a little bit sideways. 1989 Caravan Life Aug. 61/1 Despite fine weather and decent traffic conditions, at speeds over 50 mph it would begin to twitch and sway with no apparent provocation. |
▪ IV. † twitch, v.2 Obs. rare.
[Alteration of quitch, quetch v., perhaps partly after prec.]
intr. To move, stir.
| 1543 Becon Policy of War Wks. 1564 I. 143 b, God wyll so watche the borders..of our Realmes that no Tyraunte shoulde..once be able to twytche agaynst vs. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 127 Springs, some shaping or plastick, some bigning or growing, others barely stirring or twitching. |
▪ V. twitch, v.3 dial.
(twɪtʃ)
[f. twitch n.2]
intr. To gather and destroy twitch or couch-grass; also trans. to clean (land) from twitch. Hence ˈtwitching vbl. n.2
| 1795 Gentl. Mag. Aug. 695/1 At Beighton, Derbyshire,..a respectable farmer was killed by lightning, as he was twitching in his land. 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln. 398 Women..are employed in..picking up twitch to burn,..for twitching and weeding, they have, upon an average, 9d. per day. 1865 Pall Mall G. 13 May 2 They are employed in weeding, twitching, hoeing, and various other kinds of agricultural labour. 1886 S.-W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., I must twitch and do my land for wheat. |
▪ VI. twitch
obs. form of touch.