twang
Americanverb (used without object)
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twangs,
present (3rd person singular)
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twanged,
past participle, past
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twanging
present participle
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to give out a sharp, vibrating sound, as the string of a musical instrument when plucked.
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to produce such a sound by plucking a stringed musical instrument.
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to have or produce a sharp, nasal tone, as the human voice.
verb (used with object)
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twangs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
twanged,
past participle, past
-
twanging
present participle
-
to cause to make a sharp, vibrating sound, as a string of a musical instrument.
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to produce (music) by plucking the strings of a musical instrument.
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to pluck the strings of (a musical instrument).
to twang a guitar.
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to speak with a sharp, nasal tone.
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to pull the string of (an archer's bow).
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to let fly (an arrow).
noun
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the sharp, ringing sound produced by plucking or suddenly releasing a tense string.
-
a sound resembling this.
-
an act of plucking or picking.
He gave his guitar strings a twang.
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a sharp, nasal tone, as of the human voice.
noun
-
a sharp ringing sound produced by or as if by the plucking of a taut string
the twang of a guitar
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the act of plucking a string to produce such a sound
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a strongly nasal quality in a person's speech, esp in certain dialects
verb
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to make or cause to make a twang
to twang a guitar
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to strum (music, a tune, etc)
to twang on a guitar
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to speak or utter with a sharp nasal voice
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(intr) to be released or move with a twang
the arrow twanged away
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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twangsimple
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twangssimple
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have twangedperfect
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has twangedperfect
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am twangingprogressive
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are twangingprogressive
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is twangingprogressive
-
have been twangingperfect progressive
-
has been twangingperfect progressive
Past
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twangedsimple
-
had twangedperfect
-
was twangingprogressive
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were twangingprogressive
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had been twangingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of twang
First recorded in 1535–45; imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He even tests his mettle by singing fully in English on “Find Us Again,” which is driven by a melancholic, country-music twang and a typical pop-rock crescendo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
When he does speak, his words carry a faint Southern twang from his upbringing in Alabama.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
She was comfortable in her own skin, and audiences found her Tennessee twang and plainspokenness endearing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
On the one hand, his vocal stylings are well-suited to affect a slightly country twang — by way of Liverpool, of course.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
It’s definitely not Bushwickese or anything close to a Brooklyn twang.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
It pounds along with the beat of drums and shakers, chords splashing on acoustic and electric guitars, accented with banjo twangs and the birdlike cries of various flutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
Vinegar is the last, vital touch, the sourness that twangs the nerve and startles the other flavors into focus.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2022
In one section of one song, a low, industrial hum rumbles beneath occasional guitar twangs and incomprehensible mumbling voices.
From The Verge ● Feb. 18, 2021
From the first, Dias claims a penalty as his header twangs off Cooper at close range ... but the referee calls it correctly, the ball having bounced off the Leeds defender’s head.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 3, 2020
The fence clangs and twangs like a weird musical instrument, and the nose of the truck begins to dip forward, revealing a gorge like a roller-coaster drop.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
He added: "I ambitiously broke into a sprint, then that leg twanged and the other leg twanged and I knew something had gone seriously wrong with my hamstrings."
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2023
With “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X twanged country tropes over a trap beat, kicked off a yee-haw agenda and launched a pop career off the back of a novelty hit.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2022
But things went from bad to worse when Sánchez’s right hamstring twanged in the 59th minute.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2015
A transistor radio twanged on a seawall where a Hawaiian family picnicked on the sand.
From The New Yorker ● May 25, 2015
His thumbnail twanged the flat iron keys of the instrument, and the sound resonated inside the calabash on his knees.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Over a pleasantly discordant score of dreamy electronic chords and twanging banjos, Matthew finds pencil marks charting his growth as a child while these parents fuss over their own new baby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
Ball, who is remembered in a statue in the Lancashire town of Lytham where he lived for more than 20 years, was famous for twanging his braces on stage, while saying: "Rock on, Tommy."
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2022
What comes next is the kind of thing that works, as Jesús launches into the defiant tune “Born in Laredo,” driven by a twanging, sidewinding guitar.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2019
And that all came from Ms. Franklin — her rumbling, twanging, compartmentalized arrangement.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2018
There was no tune to it, but it possessed a curious twanging quality as of plucked strings.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
