Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sharp, sudden physical pain. synonym: pain.
  • noun A mental or emotional pain.
  • intransitive verb To feel or be the source of a twinge or twinges.
  • intransitive verb To cause to feel a twinge or twinges.
  • intransitive verb Obsolete To tweak; pinch.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To press; constrain; oppress; affiict.
  • To pull with a sharp, pinching jerk; tweak; twitch.
  • To torment with sharp, darting pains; sting: said of physical or mental pain.
  • To have a sharp, jerking pain, like a twitch; suffer a keen, shooting pain.
  • noun A nipping or pinching; a twitch; a tweak.
  • noun A sharp, darting pain of momentary continuance; a pang, physical or mental.
  • noun Synonyms See pain and agony.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To pull with a twitch; to pinch; to tweak.
  • transitive verb To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains.
  • intransitive verb To have a sudden, sharp, local pain, like a twitch; to suffer a keen, darting, or shooting pain.
  • noun A pinch; a tweak; a twitch.
  • noun A sudden sharp pain; a darting local pain of momentary continuance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A pinch; a tweak; a twitch.
  • noun A sudden sharp pain; a darting local pain of momentary continuance; as, a twinge in the arm or side.
  • verb To pull with a twitch; to pinch; to tweak.
  • verb To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains.
  • verb To have a sudden, sharp, local pain, like a twitch; to suffer a keen, darting, or shooting pain; as, the side twinges.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cause a stinging pain
  • verb feel a sudden sharp, local pain
  • verb squeeze tightly between the fingers
  • noun a sharp stab of pain
  • noun a sudden sharp feeling

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English twengen, to pinch, from Old English twengan.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English twengan.

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Examples

  • One stoical person’s mild twinge is another, more sensitive patient’s agony.

    On a scale of one to ten... 2009

  • One stoical person’s mild twinge is another, more sensitive patient’s agony.

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  • The delicate crystalline structure which had risen in the wake of his twinge was the result.

    Sentenced To Prism Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1985

  • Following Sunday's 30-16 loss to the Rams, Bidwell said he felt a "twinge" on his final punt earlier that afternoon.

    Early signs on Bidwell's hip are not encouraging Rick Maese 2010

  • McCain gives me that ... well ... that imperial Romanesque kind of twinge in my belly.

    Several protesters interrupt McCain speech 2008

  • Suffice it to say that if I feel any kind of twinge, I wait awhile to see if it's worth the time investment to go.

    Stupid question. 2004

  • Suffice it to say that if I feel any kind of twinge, I wait awhile to see if it's worth the time investment to go.

    Chaos Theory: 2004

  • I am not more straight-laced than many people, yet I confess it always gives me a kind of twinge to see a young man yielding to intemperance of any kind.

    Alone Norman Douglas 1910

  • However, the bi-polar Albert Square resident is in for a fright when she feels a "twinge" in her tummy and worries she is losing the baby.

    Femalefirst.co.uk - Celebrity Gossip + Lifestyle Magazine 2010

  • Mine started as a "twinge" in my neck almost as if I had pinched a nerve.

    California Literary Review 2009

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