twinge
Americannoun
-
twinges
plural
verb (used with object)
-
twinges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
twinged,
past participle, past
-
twinging
present participle
-
to affect (the body or mind) with a sudden, sharp pain or pang.
-
to pinch; tweak; twitch.
verb (used without object)
-
twinges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
twinged,
past participle, past
-
twinging
present participle
noun
-
a sudden brief darting or stabbing pain
-
a sharp emotional pang
a twinge of guilt
verb
-
to have or cause to have a twinge
-
obsolete (tr) to pinch; tweak
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
twingesimple
-
twingessimple
-
have twingedperfect
-
has twingedperfect
-
am twingingprogressive
-
are twingingprogressive
-
is twingingprogressive
-
have been twingingperfect progressive
-
has been twingingperfect progressive
Past
-
twingedsimple
-
had twingedperfect
-
was twingingprogressive
-
were twingingprogressive
-
had been twingingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of twinge
before 1000; Middle English twengen to pinch, Old English twengan
Explanation
A twinge is a sting or pang of pain that happens suddenly. Are you recovering from a basketball injury? You may still feel a twinge of discomfort in your knee when you do a layup. You can experience a physically painful twinge, but there are also twinges that are more emotional, like the twinge of sadness you feel when you look at photos of your old house. Use this word as a verb, too, if you like: "Did your shoulders twinge when you gave your little brother a piggyback ride?" Long ago, to twinge meant to pinch, and the word's origin traces back to the Old English twengan, "to pinch."
Vocabulary lists containing twinge
That Hurts! Synonyms for "Pain"
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Starfish
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Keep It Together, Keiko Carter
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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:
We do know that scores of mothers saw Lindsay Clancy and felt a twinge of understanding.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
Feel a twinge of embarrassment looking at some of the outfits the teams are being forced to wear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
But, intentional or not, contained within his September critique was a twinge of doubt about the viability of a defence-first mantra in the modern age.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2025
The twinge Rams coach Sean McVay described as a “little something” initially?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2024
I bite back a twinge of disappointment and shoot him a quick text.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Another factor creating twinges of anxiety in markets has been the recent upward pressure in short-term funding markets, especially as they reared up at the end of October.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2025
Helen later got the IUS or hormonal contraceptive coil but decided to have it removed after three years because of "sharp twinges".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2023
“Now, whenever they experience the common aches, pains and twinges of life, they wonder if it is because they have this ‘disease,’” Dr. Redberg said.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2023
“It would have been a lot easier to see the Padres advance because I wouldn’t have those twinges of pain when I see that stupid Phillie Phanatic dancing all around.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2022
But it’s whispers mostly, bits of rumor from the staff here who aren’t military, the ones who feel twinges of guilt that make them feign not a friendliness but a base level of civility.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
While the run in Qatar was twinged with disbelief, their journey in North America has been infused with purpose.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Intertwined within this main plot, and equally intriguing, are a pair of narratives twinged in history.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 13, 2023
They also predicted that Balto would have had a double layer of black fur twinged with tan; modern sled dogs tend to have just a single layer.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 26, 2023
I wanted desperately to stay like this, but along with the glow in my chest, guilt twinged.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2017
My ears twinged at the sound of my home but not enough to pull me all the way out of my quiet.
From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart
"Where is Buck?" demanded Michael with a sudden twinging of his heart strings that seemed to bring back the old love and loyalty to his friend.
From Lo, Michael! by Grace Livingston Hill
They both got up and looked at a couple of the hornets twinging on the ground as they died.
From Scorched Earth by Walter D. Petrovic
The girl hurried on, twinging far to the right through the grass.
From The Call of the North by Stewart Edward White
He smiled, with a twinging undercurrent of regret that not even in impendent death did he find any stimulus to the heroical.
From Gallantry Dizain des Fetes Galantes by James Branch Cabell
Thai forcome me in daie of twinging, And made es Layered mi forhiling.
From English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day by Walter W. (Walter William) Skeat
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.
