Twitch vs Grab - What's the difference?
twitch | grab | Related terms |
A brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.
(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.
To perform a twitch; spasm.
* (rfdate) — [http://www.mindspring.com/~randyhoward/new_page_6.htm]
* 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.
* Alexander Pope
To spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one.
* 1995 , Quarterly Review of Biology vol. 70 p. 348:
* 2003 , Mark Cocker, Birders: Tales of a Tribe [http://books.google.com/books?id=tv-Noj1Fvc0C], ISBN 0802139965, page 52:
* 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:
couch grass, Elymus repens ; a species of grass, often considered as a weed.
To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
* , chapter=7
, title= To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
To restrain someone; to arrest.
To grip the attention; to enthrall.
(informal) To quickly collect or retrieve.
* 1987 James Grady Just a Shot Away , Bantam, p117
* 1999 Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., p105
* 2009 Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps, Tate Publishing, p216
(informal) To consume something quickly.
To take the opportunity of.
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 19, author=Paul Fletcher, work=BBC Sport
, title= a sudden snatch (for something)
* 1931 Harold M. Sherman, "The Baseball Clown," Boys' Life, Vol. 21, No. 4 (April 1931), Boy Scouts of America, p47
* 2003 J Davey, Six Years of Darkness, Trafford Publishing, p66
a mechanical device that grabs or clutches
# a device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven
(media) a soundbite
In informal terms the difference between twitch and grab
is that twitch is action of spotting or seeking out a bird, especially a rare one while grab is to consume something quickly.In intransitive terms the difference between twitch and grab
is that twitch is to perform a twitch; spasm while grab is to make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).In transitive terms the difference between twitch and grab
is that twitch is to spot or seek out a bird, especially a rare one while grab is to grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.twitch
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) twicchen, from (etyl) twiccian, from (etyl) ).Noun
(es)- I saw a little twitch in the man's face, and knew he was lying.
Derived terms
* nervous twitchVerb
- "Why is it that you twitch whenever I say Faith?"
- to twitch somebody's sleeve for attention
- Thrice they twitched the diamond in her ear.
- "The Birdwatchers Handbook ... will be a clear asset to those who 'twitch' in Europe."
- "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."
- "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
* atwitchEtymology 2
alternate of quitchNoun
(-)grab
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
(grabb)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.}}
- "I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
- Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."
- He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."
Blackpool 1-2 West Ham, passage=Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.}}
Noun
(en noun)- The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
- He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.