Twitch vs. Twinge — What's the Difference?

To draw, pull, or move suddenly and sharply; jerk

A sharp, sudden physical pain.

To move jerkily or spasmodically.

A mental or emotional pain

To ache sharply from time to time; twinge.

To feel or be the source of a twinge or twinges

A sudden involuntary or spasmodic muscular movement

To cause to feel a twinge or twinges

A sudden pulling; a tug

(Obsolete) To tweak; pinch.

A sudden, sharp pain.

(transitive) To pull with a twitch; to pinch; to tweak.

A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.

(transitive) To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains.

(informal) Action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one.

(intransitive) To have a sudden, sharp, local pain, like a twitch; to suffer a keen, darting, or shooting pain.

(farriery) A stick with a hole in one end through which passes a loop, which can be drawn tightly over the upper lip or an ear of a horse and twisted to keep the animal quiet during minor surgery.

A pinch; a tweak; a twitch.

(physiology) A brief, contractile response of a skeletal muscle elicited by a single maximal volley of impulses in the neurons supplying it.

A sudden sharp pain.

(mining) The sudden narrowing almost to nothing of a vein of ore.

To pull with a twitch; to pinch; to tweak.

(birdwatching) A trip taken in order to observe a rare bird.

To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains.

Elymus repens; a species of grass, often considered as a weed

To have a sudden, sharp, local pain, like a twitch; to suffer a keen, darting, or shooting pain; as, the side twinges.

(intransitive) To perform a twitch; spasm.

A pinch; a tweak; a twitch.

(transitive) To cause to twitch; spasm.

A sudden sharp pain; a darting local pain of momentary continuance; as, a twinge in the arm or side.

(transitive) To jerk sharply and briefly.

A sudden sharp feeling;

(obsolete) To exert oneself.

A sharp stab of pain

(transitive) To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.

Cause a stinging pain;

To pull with a sudden jerk; to pluck with a short, quick motion; to snatch; as, to twitch one by the sleeve; to twitch a thing out of another's hand; to twitch off clusters of grapes.

Feel a sudden sharp, local pain

The act of twitching; a pull with a jerk; a short, sudden, quick pull; as, a twitch by the sleeve.

Squeeze tightly between the fingers;

A short, spastic contraction of the fibers or muscles; a simple muscular contraction; as, convulsive twitches; a twitch in the side.

A stick with a hole in one end through which passes a loop, which can be drawn tightly over the upper lip or an ear of a horse. By twisting the stick the compression is made sufficiently painful to keep the animal quiet during a slight surgical operation.

A sudden muscle spasm; especially one caused by a nervous condition

Make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion;

Move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions;

Toss with a sharp movement so as to cause to turn over in the air

Squeeze tightly between the fingers;

Move or pull with a sudden motion