What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Bounce vs Twitch - What's the difference?

bounce | twitch | Related terms |

In intransitive terms the difference between bounce and twitch

is that bounce is to move quickly up and then down, or vice versa, once or repeatedly while twitch is to perform a twitch; spasm.

In transitive terms the difference between bounce and twitch

is that bounce is to cause to move quickly up and then down, or vice versa, once or repeatedly while twitch is to spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.

bounce

English

(wikipedia bounce)

Verb

(bounc)
  • To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
    • The tennis ball bounced off the wall before coming to rest in the ditch.
  • To move quickly up and then down, or vice versa, once or repeatedly.
    • He bounces nervously on his chair.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012
    • , date=May 13 , author=Alistair Magowan , title=Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The Black Cats contributed to their own downfall for the only goal when Titus Bramble, making his first appearance since Boxing Day, and Michael Turner, let Phil Jones' cross bounce across the six-yard box as Rooney tucked in at the back post.}}
  • To cause to move quickly up and then down, or vice versa, once or repeatedly.
    • He bounced the child on his knee.
  • To leap or spring suddenly or unceremoniously; to bound.
    • She bounced into the room.
  • To be refused by a bank because it is drawn on insufficient funds.
    • We can’t accept further checks from you, as your last one bounced .
  • (informal) To fail to cover (have sufficient funds for) (a draft presented against one's account).
    • He tends to bounce a check or two toward the end of each month, before his payday.
  • (slang) To leave.
    • Let’s wrap this up, I gotta bounce .
  • (US, slang, dated) To eject violently, as from a room; to discharge unceremoniously, as from employment.
  • (intransitive, slang, African American Vernacular English) (sometimes employing the preposition with ) To have sexual intercourse.
  • (air combat) To attack unexpectedly.
    • The squadron was bounced north of the town.
  • (electronics) To turn power off and back on; to reset
    • See if it helps to bounce the router.
  • (intransitive, Internet, of an e-mail message or address) To return undelivered.
    • What’s your new email address – the old one bounces .
    The girl in the bar told me her address is thirsty@example.com, but my mail to that address bounced back to me.
  • (aviation) To land hard and lift off again due to excess momentum.
    • The student pilot bounced several times during his landing.
  • (slang, dated) To bully; to scold.
  • (archaic) To strike or thump, so as to rebound, or to make a sudden noise; to knock loudly.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • Another bounces as hard as he can knock.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • Out bounced the mastiff.
  • (archaic) To boast; to bluster.

    • Synonyms

    * (change direction of motion after hitting an obstacle) bounce back, rebound * (move quickly up and down) bob

    Derived terms

    * bounceable * bounce back, bounceback * bouncedown * bouncer * bounce rate * bouncing * bouncy * debounce

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A change of direction of motion after hitting the ground or an obstacle.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 9, author=Owen Phillips, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark , passage=Krohn-Dehli took advantage of a lucky bounce of the ball after a battling run on the left flank by Simon Poulsen, dummied two defenders and shot low through goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg's legs after 24 minutes.}}
  • A movement up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
  • An email return with any error.
  • The sack, licensing.
  • A bang, boom.
  • * 1773 , (Oliver Goldsmith),
    • I don't value her resentment the bounce of a cracker.
  • A drink based on brandy(w).
  • * , chapter=6
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.}}
  • A heavy, sudden, and often noisy, blow or thump.
  • * Dryden
    • The bounce burst open the door.
  • Bluster; brag; untruthful boasting; audacious exaggeration; an impudent lie; a bouncer.
    • (Johnson)
    (De Quincey)
  • Scyllium catulus , a European dogfish.
  • A genre of New Orleans music.
  • (slang, African American Vernacular English) Drugs.
  • (slang, African American Vernacular English) Swagger.
  • (slang, African American Vernacular English) A 'good' beat.
  • (slang, African American Vernacular English) A talent for leaping.

    • Synonyms

    * (change of direction of motion after hitting an obstacle) rebound * (movement up and down) bob, bobbing (repeated), bouncing (repeated) * (talent for leaping) ups, mad ups

    Derived terms

    * bouncy * on the bounce English ergative verbs

    twitch

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) twicchen, from (etyl) twiccian, from (etyl) ).

    Noun

    (es)
  • A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
    • I saw a little twitch in the man's face, and knew he was lying.
  • (informal) Action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one.
  • (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.
    • Derived terms
    * nervous twitch

    Verb

  • To perform a twitch; spasm.
  • * (rfdate) — [http://www.mindspring.com/~randyhoward/new_page_6.htm]
    • "Why is it that you twitch whenever I say Faith?"
  • * 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
  • *:Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses...
  • To jerk sharply and briefly.
    • to twitch somebody's sleeve for attention
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Thrice they twitched the diamond in her ear.
  • To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.
  • * 1995 , Quarterly Review of Biology vol. 70 p. 348:
    • "The Birdwatchers Handbook ... will be a clear asset to those who 'twitch' in Europe."
  • * 2003 , Mark Cocker, Birders: Tales of a Tribe [http://books.google.com/books?id=tv-Noj1Fvc0C], ISBN 0802139965, page 52:
    • "But the key revelation from twitching that wonderful Iceland Gull on 10 March 1974 wasn't its eroticism. It was the sheer innocence of it."
  • * 2005 , Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time [http://books.google.com/books?id=fWLmpqL4EMsC], ISBN 1741145287, page 119:
    • "I hadn't seen John since I went to Adelaide to (unsuccessfully) twitch the '87 Northern Shoveler, when I was a skinny, eighteen- year-old kid. "
    Usage notes
    When used of birdwatchers by ignorant outsiders, this term frequently carries a negative connotation.
    Derived terms
    * atwitch

    Etymology 2

    alternate of quitch

    Noun

    (-)
  • couch grass, Elymus repens ; a species of grass, often considered as a weed.