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Quirk vs Twitch - What's the difference?

quirk | twitch |

As nouns the difference between quirk and twitch

is that quirk is an idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone while twitch is a brief, small (sometimes involuntary) movement out of place and then back again; a spasm.

As verbs the difference between quirk and twitch

is that quirk is to move with a wry jerk while twitch is to perform a twitch; spasm.

quirk

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • an idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone
    • The car steers cleanly, but the gearshift has a few quirks .
  • (architecture) An acute angle dividing a molding; a groove that runs lengthwise between the upper part of a moulding and a soffit
  • (archaic) A quibble, evasion, or subterfuge.

    • Derived terms

    * quirky

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (ambitransitive) To move with a wry jerk.
    • He quirked an eyebrow.
    The corners of her mouth quirked .

    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.