Definition of GLITCH

Did You Know?

There's a glitch in the etymology of glitch - the origins of the word are not known for sure, though it may derive from the Yiddish glitsh, meaning "slippery place." The first documented use of glitch in print in English is found in astronaut John Glenn's 1962 book Into Orbit. In it he wrote, "Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical circuit which takes place when the circuit suddenly has a new load put on it." Today, you don't have to be an astronaut to be familiar with the word glitch, which can be used of any minor malfunction or snag.

Examples of glitch in a Sentence

Glitches in the speaker's schedule caused some delays. A technical glitch caused a temporary shutdown.

Recent Examples on the Web

Later, one of our favorite YouTubers, PatrickStarrr, tells some of his most embarrassing moments, from his first kiss to the biggest glitch he's experienced on set (Madelaine Petsch was involved!!). — Erika Trombley, Seventeen, "Olympic Figure Skater Mirai Nagasu Shares Her Confidence Tips and They’re Relatable AF," 15 Mar. 2019 The device reportedly encountered a glitch, with an inaccurate signal triggering an automatic nose-down security function, meant to steer the aircraft downward in the event of its nose raising too high. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Authorities Find Cockpit Voice Recorder of Crashed Lion Air Flight 610," 14 Jan. 2019 After some brief technical glitches with microphones in the hearing chamber, the testimony begins. — Emily Tillett, CBS News, "Christopher Wylie: Bannon wanted "weapons" to fight a "culture war" at Cambridge Analytica," 16 May 2018 Test glitches with the PARCC exams that Ohio used in 2015 led the state to fire that testing consortium and hire AIR instead. — Patrick O'donnell, cleveland.com, "Computer errors wipe out day of testing for Ohio's state tests," 18 Apr. 2018 The airliner is one of Boeing's most popular planes, and the same model involved in the Lion Air crash that killed 189 passengers last November when the plane encountered a technical glitch and plummeted into the Java Sea. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Now Britain Is Grounding All Boeing 737 Max 8 Jets Following Catastrophic Ethiopia Crash," 11 Mar. 2019 In fact, some precincts across the country have dealt with long lines and technical glitches that keep voters waiting for hours to cast their ballots. — Megan Friedman, Harper's BAZAAR, "Voters Across the Country Are Running Into Issues at the Polls," 6 Nov. 2018 The bureau wants most Americans to answer it online, a major switch that should make the count more efficient but also creates the risk of cybersecurity threats and technical glitches. — Janet Adamy, WSJ, "Supreme Court Won’t Postpone Trial on Census Citizenship Question," 2 Nov. 2018 The launch had intially been scheduled for early Saturday, but last-minute technical glitches ate away at the launch window, prompting a 24-hour delay. — James Rogers, Fox News, "NASA's Parker Solar Probe blasts off on epic journey to 'touch the Sun'," 12 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'glitch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.