twinge

Meaning

1. To have a sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, like a twitch.
2. To pull and twist.
3. To pull and twist (someone or something); to pinch, to tweak, to twitch, to wring.
4. To affect or torment (someone, their mind, or part of their body) with one or more sudden, pinching or sharp pains; to irritate.
5. To prick or stimulate (one's conscience).
6. A sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, especially one lasting for a short time.
7. A turn, a twist.
8. A sudden, sharp feeling of an emotional or mental nature, as of guilt or sadness; a pang, a paroxysm, a throe; also, a prick of the conscience.
9. A sudden, sharp occurrence of something; a nip.
10. Synonym of earwig (“insect of the order Dermaptera”).
11. An act of pulling and twisting; a pinch, a tweak, a twitch.

Etymology / origin

The verb is derived from Middle English twengen (“to nip, pinch, tweak; to tear at”), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *twangijan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-Germanic *twangijaną (“to pinch, squeeze”), the causative form of *twinganą (“to press, squeeze”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to *þwangiz (“belt, strap, thong; pressure, restraint”) or *þwinganą, *þwinhaną (“to constrain; to force”) (whence German zwingen), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to press, pressure, squeeze”). However, the Oxford English Dictionary says there is no evidence for such a relationship. The noun is derived from the verb.

Related words

Descendant words

• twang(English) (cog)
• zwingen(German) (cog)

Sources

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