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:
BBC's commentary team later received a message from Hodgkinson's coach Jenny Meadows, saying she withdrew as she "felt a little twinge in her last strides before the race".
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 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 I also found comfort in the idea that it was a possibility—and a twinge of anger toward the many gynecologists I had seen who had never mentioned it as one.
From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2024
Even if it was only a twinge, it was enough for the Rams to shut down Stafford.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2024
I get a small twinge of nerves, but I’m halfway decent in math, so it should be okay.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
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
“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
Starc, 31, has bowled more than 75 overs in the series and felt twinges in his back during the second Test.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2021
Silver’s twinges of disappointment whenever Pumpkin rejects her help give us a sense of the sadness that Corn detected in her when he first admired her walk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2021
Some Hitler Youth had twinges of conscience over the treatment of the Jews.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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
Heaving, breathing in and out, each breath twinged with a high-pitched wheeze.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
Austin had swung through a waltz with Jacinta, though the guitars were still twinging softly when they climbed the ladder to the bridge-deck, where canvas chairs were laid out.
From For Jacinta by Harold Bindloss
Later, when gout got to twinging him, he contented himself with cards and cronies.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 12 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Scientists by Elbert Hubbard
The corporal was watching him with hungry eyes and a stupid expression on his face; his stomach was also twinging him.
From The Downfall by E. P. Robins
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
His own character being immune to the little twinging impulses of humanness that grow to generous and unselfish deeds, he had looked with derision upon all persons who betrayed concern for their fellow-men.
From The Ranchman by Charles Alden Seltzer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
