Word Study
twinge
CIDE DICTIONARY
twinge, v. t. [OE. twengen, AS. twengan; akin to OE. twingen to pain, afflict, OFries. thwinga, twinga, dwinga, to constrain, D. dwingen, OS. thwingan, G. zwingen, OHG. dwingan, thwingan, to press, oppress, overcome, Icel. , Sw. tvinga to subdue, constrain, Dan. tvinge, and AS. to press, OHG. d, and probably to E. thong. Perhaps influenced by twitch. Cf. Thong.].
- To pull with a twitch; to pinch; to tweak. [1913 Webster]"When a man is past his sense,
There's no way to reduce him thence,
But twinging him by the ears or nose,
Or laying on of heavy blows." [1913 Webster] - To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains. [1913 Webster]"The gnat . . . twinged him [the lion] till he made him tear
himself, and so mastered him." [1913 Webster]
twinge, v. i.
To have a sudden, sharp, local pain, like a twitch; to suffer a keen, darting, or shooting pain; as, the side twinges. [1913 Webster]
twinge, n.
- A pinch; a tweak; a twitch. [1913 Webster]"A master that gives you . . . twinges by the ears." [1913 Webster]
- A sudden sharp pain; a darting local pain of momentary continuance; as, a twinge in the arm or side. Dryden. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
twinge, n. & v.
--n. a sharp momentary local pain or pang (a twinge of toothache; a twinge of conscience).
--v.intr. & tr. experience or cause to experience a twinge.
--n. a sharp momentary local pain or pang (a twinge of toothache; a twinge of conscience).
--v.intr. & tr. experience or cause to experience a twinge.
Etymology
twinge (v.) pinch, wring f. OE twengan f. Gmc
THESAURUS
twinge
ache, acute pain, agonize, ail, anguish, bite, blanch, blench, boring pain, charley horse, cramp, cramps, crick, darting pain, feel pain, feel the pangs, fulgurant pain, girdle pain, gnawing, grimace, gripe, griping, have a misery, hitch, hurt, jumping pain, kink, lancinating pain, misery, nip, pain, pang, paroxysm, pinch, pound, prick, seizure, sharp pain, shoot, shooting, shooting pain, shrink, smart, spasm, stab, stabbing pain, stitch, suffer, thrill, throb, throes, tingle, tormen, tweak, twitch, wince, wrench, writheROGET THESAURUS
twinge
Physical Pain
N physical pain, pain, suffering, sufferance, suffrance, bodily pain, physical pain, bodily suffering, physical suffering, body pain, mental suffering, dolour, ache, aching, smart, shoot, shooting, twinge, twitch, gripe, headache, stomach ache, heartburn, angina, angina pectoris, hurt, cut, sore, soreness, discomfort, malaise, cephalalgia, earache, gout, ischiagra, lumbago, neuralgia, odontalgia, otalgia, podagra, rheumatism, sciatica, tic douloureux, toothache, tormina, torticollis, spasm, cramp, nightmare, ephialtes, crick, stitch, thrill, convulsion, throe, throb, pang, colic, kink, sharp pain, piercing pain, throbbing pain, shooting pain, sting, gnawing pain, burning pain, excruciating pain, anguish, agony, torment, torture, rack, cruciation, crucifixion, martyrdom, toad under a harrow, vivisection, in pain, in a state of pain, pained, gouty, podagric, torminous, painful, aching, sore, raw, Special Sensation (1) Touch.VB feel pain, experience pain, suffer pain, undergo pain, suffer, ache, smart, bleed, tingle, shoot, twinge, twitch, lancinate, writhe, wince, make a wry face, sit on thorns, sit on pins and needles, give pain, inflict pain, lacerate, pain, hurt, chafe, sting, bite, gnaw, gripe, pinch, tweak, grate, gall, fret, prick, pierce, wring, convulse, torment, torture, rack, agonize, crucify, cruciate, excruciate, break on the wheel, put to the rack, flog, grate on the ear.
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