stim

American  

[stim] / stɪm /

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in repetitive physical movements or articulated noises, often in reaction to a mental or emotional state: especially common in young children and those with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder.

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noun

1. Also called self-stimulatory behavior.  a repeated physical movement or articulated noise, ranging from full body rocking or leg bouncing to head banging and hand flapping, exhibited by many people, often in reaction to a mental or emotional state, but especially by young children and those with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder.

   Some common stims like chewing your nails or twirling your hair are similar in their purpose and result to the stims of a child who sucks his thumb or flicks his fingers.

stim British  

/ stɪm /

noun

1. (used with a negative) a very small amount

   I couldn't see a stim

   she hasn't a stim of sense

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Etymology

Origin of stim

First recorded in 1980–85; by shortening of stimming ( def. )

Example Sentences

Unfortunately, says Manhattan Gynecologist Edward Stim, who rarely prescribes the drugs, they are sometimes given on a casual, "Why not give it a try?" basis.

From Time Magazine Archive

Secretary Stim son saw newsgatherers about Mrs. Gann.

From Time Magazine Archive

Stim was a bold bid by Prodigy, the dowdy online service started by IBM and Sears, to break into the hot, youth-oriented Web-content business.

From Time Magazine Archive

The infant Stim, a Website that was born here in May amid a tide of ain't-the-Net-great hype, had just succumbed, carried off by a corrective wave of antihype.

From Time Magazine Archive

Six years after King Olaf's death, it happened that King Eystein, at a feast at Hustadir in Stim, was seized with an illness which soon carried him off.

From Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson