1
as in fidgeted
to make jerky or restless movements
the dog twitched in her sleep
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2
as in jerked
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion
the rabbit twitched its nose
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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
Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me.
—Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 4 Feb. 2026
Baby Briana’s arms twitched and legs flopped against cold concrete.
—Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 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
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
Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me.
—Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 4 Feb. 2026
Baby Briana’s arms twitched and legs flopped against cold concrete.
—Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 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
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
Verb
-
In the summer of 2020, former Morgan Stanley trader Adam Crawley was wandering through Indonesia, Thailand and Australia, perfecting his qigong with a man called Master YanG, when a cold message on LinkedIn jerked him back to reality.—
Phoebe Liu,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2026
-
John jerked Maggie back by the elbow and stopped her from stepping into the street.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 May 2026
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
Verb
-
Her only help came from a passenger who yanked the girls away.—
Caitlin McGlade,
Charlotte Observer,
2 June 2026
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The theater was also immediately gutted, the audience chairs yanked out and flung into a pile in the middle of the studio.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
Pacheco’s absence hurt Covina (16-13-1), which threw five wild pitches in the dirt after the catcher was tossed.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 June 2026
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Young also tossed a deep ball to him in 11-on-11 work early in practice, but that was broken up by cornerback Jaycee Horn.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2026
Verb
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As Aden Kassaye and her mother got out to inspect the damage, Beas Solorio reportedly lurched the BMW forward, making contact with Ayalew’s torso, prompting Ayalew to slam her hands on the BMW’s hood to brace herself and yell at the driver.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
30 May 2026
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So between those two things, the balance of gerrymanders has lurched pretty abruptly toward the right.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Femi tried to hit Lesnar with a Fall from Grace, but Lesnar wiggled out of it.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
31 May 2026
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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
Verb
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Colorado pulled to 8-3 in the fifth on Tyler Freeman’s two-run homer, but the Angels answered again in the bottom half on Jo Adell’s RBI single for a 9-3 lead.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
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The hood’s intake is mounted at the back, so smoke and fumes rising from the back burners get pulled straight up into it.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Twitched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/twitched. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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