English
Pronunciation
IPA|/twɪt�/
rhymes|ɪt�
Noun
en-noun|es
- A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
- rfv-sense The act of spotting a bird species.
#:quotations
#:*"The challenge of adding a particular bird to one's life list, and the surge of adrenaline that accompanies a successful twitch, is comparable in many ways to climbing a mountain." — 1
Translations
trans-top|brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again
Finnish: nykäisy, nykäys, nytkähdys
trans-mid
trans-bottom
trans-top|act of bird spotting
Finnish: bongaus
trans-mid
trans-bottom
Verb
en-verb|twitches|twitching|twitched
- intransitive To perform a twitch; spasm.
#:*"Why is it that you twitch whenever I say Faith?" — 2
- transitive To jerk sharply and briefly.
- transitive To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.
#*1995, Quarterly Review of Biology vol. 70 p. 348:
#:"The Birdwatchers Handbook ... will be a clear asset to those who 'twitch' in Europe."
#*2003, Mark Cocker, Birders: Tales of a Tribe 3, ISBN 0802139965, page 52:
#:"But the key revelation from twitching that wonderful Iceland Gull on 10 March 1974 wasn't its eroticism. It was the sheer innocence of it."
#*2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time 4, ISBN 1741145287, page 119:
#:"I hadn't seen John since I went to Adelaide to (unsuccessfully) twitch the '87 Northern Shoveler, when I was a skinny, eighteen- year-old kid. "
Translations
trans-top|to perform a twitch; spasm
Finnish: nytkähtää
trans-mid
trans-bottom
trans-top|to jerk sharply and briefly
Finnish: nykäistä
trans-mid
trans-bottom
trans-top|to spot a bird
Finnish: bongata
trans-mid
trans-bottom
Usage notes
When used of birdwatchers by ignorant outsiders, this term frequently carries a negative connotation.
Derived terms
atwitch
Category:English ergative verbs
fa:twitch
fr:twitch
io:twitch
it:twitch
pl:twitch
te:twitch
vi:twitch
zh:twitch
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