twitch
/twɪt͡ʃ/noun, verb
twitch is spelled T-W-I-T-C-H: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, twitch means “A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of twitch is twitches.
How many letters and syllables are in twitch?
| Letters | 6: T-W-I-T-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.8 times per million words; the 10,196th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is twitch?
Twitch appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce twitch?
- /twɪt͡ʃ/
- [tʰw̥ɪt͡ʃ]
Twitch has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-twitch.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of twitch
- twitches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- twitching participle, present
- twitched participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does twitch mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
I saw a little twitch in the man's face, and knew he was lying.
- 2
informalAction of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one.
- 3
A stick with a hole in one end through which passes a loop, which can be drawn tightly over the upper lip or an ear of a horse and twisted to keep the animal quiet during minor surgery.
- 4
A brief, contractile response of a skeletal muscle elicited by a single maximal volley of impulses in the neurons supplying it.
- 5
The sudden narrowing almost to nothing of a vein of ore.
- 6
A trip taken in order to observe a rare bird.
- 7
couch grass (Elymus repens; a species of grass, often considered as a weed)
verb
- 1
To perform a twitch; spasm.
His fingers were nervously twitching.
- 2
To cause to twitch; spasm.
- 3
To jerk sharply and briefly.
to twitch somebody's sleeve for attention
- 4
obsoleteTo exert oneself.
- 5
To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.
- 6
To engage in twitching.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Twitch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tic , tord-nez, morailles , spasmer, secouer, tressauter |
| German | Zuckung, Zucken , Nasenbremse, Bremse, Klappe, Kluppe |
| Portuguese | tique, espasmo , aziar |
| Spanish | crispatura, crispadura, crispamiento, crispación , aciar, acial |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does twitch come from?
From Middle English twicchen, from Old English *twiċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *twikkijan (“to nail, pin, fasten, clasp, pinch”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).