twitched

verb

past tense of twitch
1
as in fidgeted
to make jerky or restless movements the dog twitched in her sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in jerked
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion the rabbit twitched its nose

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of twitched Many a club’s board would have twitched in the face of the bare data, but the chain of command above Arteta stayed the course, and the FOMO is so high that tickets for Palace away this weekend are going for £45,000 ($60,000) on resale sites. — Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 May 2026 My jaw twitched uncontrollably. — Literary Hub, 15 May 2026 Pebbles twitched, branches waggled, cholla wiggled, weeds erupted then dried up and died. — Alina Hartounian, NPR, 20 Apr. 2026 Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later. — Freida Frisaro, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026 Baby Briana’s arms twitched and legs flopped against cold concrete. — Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026 Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me. — Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 4 Feb. 2026 The bonito’s body twitched until Yamasaki slid a thin metal wire down the column of its spinal cord, a second step called shinkei jime, which arrests its nervous system. — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026 Their usefulness remains an open question At the back of a conference hall at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, a humanoid robot twitched through a preprogrammed wave for a crowd of cell phone cameras—a classic scene of high spectacle and unclear utility at CES. — Eric Sullivan, Scientific American, 6 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for twitched
  1. fidgeted
  2. jerked
  3. squirmed
  4. yanked
  5. tossed
  6. lurched
  7. wiggled
  8. pulled
Verb
  • One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby.
    — David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2026
  • Between each dance was an excruciating silence during which network-TV producers monitored and reset their equipment while the men fidgeted onstage like excitable children.
    — Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Definition of fidgeted
Verb
  • Once the squid gather near the surface, lines fitted with bait are lowered into the water and rapidly jerked up and down to imitate small prey such as shrimp, triggering strikes before the catch is reeled aboard.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 20 June 2026
  • Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled.
    — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026
Definition of jerked
Verb
  • Belloumi’s 64th-minute strike with his left foot broke the deadlock in the second game of the two-leg affair and Gelhardt made sure with a low shot that squirmed past the Millwall goalkeeper.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 May 2026
  • His Japanese guest, usually a paragon of diplomatic cool, visibly squirmed.
    — Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 14 Apr. 2026
Definition of squirmed
Verb
  • Dest was so bad that he got yanked at halftime and replaced by Gio Reyna.
    — Paul Tenorio, New York Times, 8 July 2026
  • Winco also yanked about 13,500 Roman Candles 8 Shot 3-Pack Firework Devices.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
Definition of yanked
Verb
  • This comes as the ex-Apprentice host on July 3 tossed some praise Clinton’s way in a book reading event with Second Lady Usha Vance on the latter’s podcast.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 4 July 2026
  • This creator tossed on an oversize button-down and chunky bauble necklace for an effortlessly cool long-weekend look.
    — Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 4 July 2026
Definition of tossed
Verb
  • Adams’ shoulders lurched on the bench, while Richards fell to his knees, dug his afro into the grass, and closed his eyes in pain.
    — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 7 July 2026
  • Initial data indicates both of these earthquakes were strike-slip, Magnani said, meaning one plate lurched past the other along the boundary.
    — Evan Bush, NBC news, 25 June 2026
Definition of lurched
Verb
  • Femi tried to hit Lesnar with a Fall from Grace, but Lesnar wiggled out of it.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2026
  • De Avila nearly wiggled out of a huge jam in the first inning, producing two strikeouts after the Knights loaded the bases with no outs.
    — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026
Definition of wiggled
Verb
  • The Rangers had a rough stretch during the seventh when Eovaldi got pulled after allowing one run.
    — Cal Phillips Updated July 9, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 July 2026
  • Valya volunteers to detach Venera 7’s bathysphere, knowing that he’ll be pulled toward Venus, and will certainly die there.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 July 2026
Definition of pulled

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Cite this Entry

“Twitched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/twitched. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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