Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: TWITCHED |
TWITCHEDImperative & past participle1. Of Twitch |
Date "TWITCHED" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1812. (references) |
Crosswords: TWITCHED |
| English words defined with "TWITCHED": convulsively ♦ with convulsions. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "TWITCHED": INAUSPICIOUSLY. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | No, but the dressing table twitched a few times (The Beiderbecke Affair; writing credit: Alan Plater) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | She fell sideways and her arms and legs twitched. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | INAUSPICIOUSLY, adv. In an unpromising manner, the auspices being unfavorable. Among the Romans it was customary before undertaking any important action or enterprise to obtain from the augurs, or state prophets, some hint of its probable outcome; and one of their favorite and most trustworthy modes of divination consisted in observing the flight of birds -- the omens thence derived being called auspices. Newspaper reporters and certain miscreant lexicographers have decided that the word -- always in the plural -- shall mean "patronage" or "management"; as, "The festivities were under the auspices of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Body-Snatchers"; or, "The hilarities were auspicated by the Knights of Hunger." A Roman slave appeared one day Before the Augur. "Tell me, pray, If --" here the Augur, smiling, made A checking gesture and displayed His open palm, which plainly itched, For visibly its surface twitched. A denarius (the Latin nickel) Successfully allayed the tickle, And then the slave proceeded: "Please Inform me whether Fate decrees Success or failure in what I To-night (if it be dark) shall try. Its nature? Never mind -- I think 'Tis writ on this" -- and with a wink Which darkened half the earth, he drew Another denarius to view, Its shining face attentive scanned, Then slipped it into the good man's hand, Who with great gravity said: "Wait While I retire to question Fate." That holy person then withdrew His scared clay and, passing through The temple's rearward gate, cried "Shoo!" Waving his robe of office. Straight Each sacred peacock and its mate (Maintained for Juno's favor) fled With clamor from the trees o'erhead, Where they were perching for the night. The temple's roof received their flight, For thither they would always go, When danger threatened them below. Back to the slave the Augur went: "My son, forecasting the event By flight of birds, I must confess The auspices deny success." That slave retired, a sadder man, Abandoning his secret plan -- Which was (as well the craft seer Had from the first divined) to clear The wall and fraudulently seize On Juno's poultry in the trees. G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "TWITCHED" is generally used as a lexical verb (past tense) -- approximately 90.60% of the time. "TWITCHED" is used about 149 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (past tense) | 90.6% | 135 | 27,360 |
| Lexical Verb (past participle) | 8.72% | 13 | 97,576 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 0.67% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 149 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
twitched | 8 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "TWITCHED"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 抽动 (twitching). (various references) | |
German | zupfte (plucked), gezupft. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | itchedtway.(various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"TWITCHED" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Titchard, titched, Tiutchev, twitchel, Twitchen, Twitchet, Twythe. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "TWITCHED" (pronounced twi"kht) |
| 4 | -w i" kh t | bewitched, switched. |
| 3 | -i" kh t | ditched, enriched, hitched, pitched, stitched. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-d-e-h-i-t-t-w" | |
-1 letter: witched. | |
-2 letters: itched, thetic, tithed, twitch, whited, withed, witted. | |
-3 letters: chide, cited, ditch, edict, ethic, tithe, twice, wecht, white, width, witch, wited, withe. | |
-4 letters: cedi, chew, chid, chit, cite, dice, diet, dite, edit, etch, etic, hide, hied, iced, itch, teth, thew, tide, tied, twit, whet, whid, whit, wich, wide, wite, with. | |
-5 letters: chi, dew, die. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-d-e-h-i-t-t-w" | |
+4 letters: creditworthy, whipstitched. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Quotations: Fiction | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Derivations 10. Rhymes 11. Anagrams 12. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
