twinge

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To have a sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, like a twitch.

   • My side twinges if I sit too long.
2. 2

   To pull and twist.

3. 3

   To pull and twist (someone or something)

   To pull and twist (someone or something); to pinch, to tweak, to twitch, to wring.

   • I tell thee, I do vſe to teare their hair, to kick them, and to tvvindge their noſes, if they be not carefull in auoiding me.
   • Thus Captaine Beſſus, thus; thus tvvinge your noſe, thus kicke, thus tread you.
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   1. 4

      To affect or torment (someone, their mind, or part of their body) with one or more…

      To affect or torment (someone, their mind, or part of their body) with one or more sudden, pinching or sharp pains; to irritate.

      • For the Chiefeſt cauſe of pain in VVounds of the nerves is the excrementitious matter ſhut up; vvhich being overlong detayned getteth to it ſelf a depraved quality, pulleth and tvvingeth the Nerves, and at length putrifieth.
      • The Gnat Charg'd into the Noſtrils of the Lyon, and there Tvving'd him, till he made him Tear himſelf vvith his Ovvn Pavvs. And in the Concluſion he Maſter'd the Lyon.
      • [T]vving'd vvith pain, he penſive ſits, / And raves, and prays, and ſvvears by fits, […]
   2. 5

      To prick or stimulate (one's conscience).

      • [I]f any of his father's old notions of economy by chance twinged his conscience, Belle very judiciously asked how he ever came to think of her for a wife?
   3. 6

      A sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, especially one lasting…

      A sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, especially one lasting for a short time.

      • I got a twinge in my arm.
      • Sir Boun[teous Progress]. You feele as it vvere a tvvinge my Lord? / Folly-vv [i.e., Richard Follywit]. I, ee'n a tvvinge, you ſay right. / Sir Boun. A pox diſcouer e'm, that tvvinge I feele too.
      • [T]he gout, […] gave him such severe twinges that it was plain enough how intolerable it would be if he were not well supplied with rings of rare virtue, and with an amulet worn close under the right breast.
   4. 7

      A turn, a twist.

      • "Easy!" exclaimed Arthur, a half-contemptuous twinge in his lip, and added: "I take it that the simple question with me is, what is right, and what is best."
   5. 8

      A sudden, sharp feeling of an emotional or mental nature, as of guilt or sadness

      A sudden, sharp feeling of an emotional or mental nature, as of guilt or sadness; a pang, a paroxysm, a throe; also, a prick of the conscience.

      • a twinge of embarrassment
      • [T]he VVickedneſs of this old Villain ſtartles me, and gives me a tvvinge for my ovvn Sin; though it come far ſhort of his: […]
      • [W]ho vvould not rather Sleep Quietly upon a Hammock, vvithout either Cares in his Head, or Crudities in his Stomach, then lye Carking upon a Bed of State, vvith the Qualms and Tvvinges that accompany Surfeits and Exceſs?
   6. 9

      A sudden, sharp occurrence of something

      A sudden, sharp occurrence of something; a nip.

   7. 10

      Synonym of earwig (“insect of the order Dermaptera”).

   8. 11

      An act of pulling and twisting

      An act of pulling and twisting; a pinch, a tweak, a twitch.

      • [T]he ſpirite of Jeſus hath (as it were) nipped my herte alſo with a litell twynge, […]
      • For the tvvinge by th' noſe, / 'Tis certainly unſightly, ſo my tables ſaies, / But helpes againſt the head-ache, vvondrous ſtrangely.

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