twinge
A sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, especially one…A sudden, pinching or sharp pain in a specific part of the body, especially one lasting for a short time.
» I felt a twinge in my chest.
Meaning
6 sensesA 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.
ре́зкая больrézkaja bolʹ, при́ступ бо́лиprístup bóli
a sharp stab of pain
(also, figuratively, rare)A turn, a twist.
(figuratively)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
a sudden sharp feeling
(figuratively)A sudden, sharp occurrence of something; a nip.
(UK, dialectal)Synonym of earwig (“insect of the order Dermaptera”).
(obsolete)An act of pulling and twisting; a pinch, a tweak, a twitch.
Examples
7 sentencesI felt a twinge in my chest.
Tom couldn't help feeling a twinge of panic.
The twinge in my side forced me to bend.
As soon as I started running, I felt a twinge of pain in my side.
Benedito felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched his neighbor's billy goat grazing contentedly on a nearby hill.
Translations
2 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
The verb is derived from Middle English twengen (“to nip, pinch, tweak; to tear at”), fromThe verb is derived from Middle English twengen (“to nip, pinch, tweak; to tear at”), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *twangijan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-Germanic *twangijaną (“to pinch, squeeze”), the causative form of *twinganą (“to press, squeeze”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to *þwangiz (“belt, strap, thong; pressure, restraint”) or *þwinganą, *þwinhaną (“to constrain; to force”) (whence German zwingen), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to press, pressure, squeeze”). However, the Oxford English Dictionary says there is no evidence for such a relationship.
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