twitch

«twitch» in Mova's school dictionary: To make a small, quick movement that you do not mean to… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (twitch, twitches, twitched, twitching); noun (a twitch, twitches)

meaning for a pupil

1) To make a small, quick movement that you do not mean to make: "My eye twitched." tree →

2) To move something a little and quickly: "The rabbit twitched its nose." tree →

3) A twitch is such a small quick movement. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life you may notice an eyelid twitch when tired, or a rabbit's nose twitch. In stories, curtains "twitch" when nosy neighbours peek out. In science, muscles can twitch on their own. Phrases: twitch its nose, an eye twitch, curtain twitcher.

examples

• The rabbit twitched its nose. tree →
• My eyelid keeps twitching when I am tired. tree →
• The cat's tail twitched as it watched the bird. tree →
• The curtain twitched as we walked past. tree →
• He felt a twitch in his leg. tree →
• The dog's paws twitched while it was dreaming. tree →

note

Regular verb: twitch, twitched; third person "twitches". A small twitch is usually harmless, often from tiredness. A "twitcher" in the UK is a keen birdwatcher.

In the corpora

• The sudden jerk as you fall asleep is a common, harmless muscle twitch, and nobody is sure why it happens.
• Your dog is fast asleep on the rug, but its paws are paddling, its lips twitch and it gives tiny muffled woofs.
• In one stage the brain is very busy, the eyes flick about under the lids and the body twitches.
• Scientists look for clues instead: brain patterns, moving eyes, twitching legs and changing colours.
• Stop stroking a cat when its tail twitches, its skin ripples or its ears turn back.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «twitch» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.