verb (used without object)
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to utter a succession of small, tremulous sounds, as a bird.
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to talk lightly and rapidly, especially of trivial matters; chatter.
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to titter; giggle.
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to tremble with excitement or the like; be in a flutter.
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Digital Technology. tweet.
verb (used with object)
verb
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(intr) (esp of a bird) to utter a succession of chirping sounds
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(intr) to talk or move rapidly and tremulously
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(intr) to giggle
her schoolmates twittered behind their desks
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(tr) to utter in a chirping way
noun
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a twittering sound, esp of a bird
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the act of twittering
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a state of nervous excitement (esp in the phrase in a twitter )
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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twittersimple
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twitterssimple
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have twitteredperfect
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has twitteredperfect
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am twitteringprogressive
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are twitteringprogressive
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is twitteringprogressive
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have been twitteringperfect progressive
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has been twitteringperfect progressive
Past
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twitteredsimple
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had twitteredperfect
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was twitteringprogressive
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were twitteringprogressive
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had been twitteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of twitter
1325–75; Middle English twiteren (v.); akin to German zwitschern
Explanation
To twitter is to make a sound like a bird's trill or chirp. One of the nicest things about spring is the sound of birds as they twitter in the trees. Tweet tweet! When birds twitter, they make a staccato, musical chirping sound. You can call this sound itself a twitter too. Sometimes the word is used to describe a similar sound made by chattering humans. In the fourteenth century, the word was twiteren, developed from an imitation of the sound that twittering birds make. Twitter is also a social media website founded in 2006, on which people post 140-character bursts of information called tweets. Wonder where they got that idea.
Vocabulary lists containing twitter
"Terrible Things"
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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:
In a statement on Thursday, Lauren Edwards said: "I have recently been made aware of a small number of tweets that I posted on twitter from over a decade ago, which I now deeply regret."
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2024
“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk posted on the site.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 24, 2023
The Twitter logo began a transition to X last week, shortly after Musk tweeted: “and soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk tweeted Sunday.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
In one of the big red oaks, a small screech owl started his eerie twitter.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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Much of that influence comes via X, formerly Twitter, the social media platform that Musk bought outright in 2022.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Twitter Democrats stuck by Platner, believing that he was a good avatar for working-class politics and that real voters wouldn’t care that he was rough around the edges.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
“The El Segundo Times were very eager to dox where my children sleep; they thought that was newsworthy,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
Gracias has invested in all of Musk’s projects, including Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, the Twitter acquisition, and xAI, and served on multiple boards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Now on the city streets, the kids looked like American kids, busy with their cell phones, scrolling through Twitter and Facebook.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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Looking like a miniature killer whale, it twitters in flight.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 16, 2020
We startle a chunky little woodcock that's sheltering in the long grass and it twitters its indignation shrilly.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2020
He listened carefully for what Japanese teachers call children’s twitters — mumbled nuggets of inchoate thoughts that teachers can mold into the fully formed concept they are trying to teach.
From New York Times ● Jul. 23, 2014
He smiles, she twitters, and the next day the newspapers are headlining, “Who’s That Girl?”
From Time ● Nov. 22, 2011
The teepee filled with the twitters of a bird and distant traffic.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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Shorebirds twittered and blue-gray waves lapped and whooshed, bringing the sounds of the beach to the Central Valley.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
As the orange ball of the sun rose on the horizon and birds twittered in the eucalypti, Baumgarten showed up—a fit, poised, attractive guy in his 40s.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 2, 2020
The highlight was a rare 19th-century pocket watch, whose face was dotted with pearls and rubies and concealed a pop-up bird, slightly larger than a thumbnail, that twittered and sang.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2019
He twittered on about last night’s screening, then asked me to think of a piece to write for Vogue, so that’s a relief.
From MSNBC ● Nov. 15, 2017
“Get out there, Riccio!” he twittered, imitating Hornet.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
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It helps nurture a slower, older way of life, with pocket flocks and modest dairy herds enclosed by thick hedgerows foaming with cow parsley and twittering songbirds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
On a long low wall alongside the Liangshui river in Beijing, a trader has several small cages with tiny twittering birds.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
And the twittering masses erupted in debate again hours later when the Los Angeles Police Department announced it was not investigating the matter because Rock had declined to pursue criminal charges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2022
Today’s readers, used to the twittering demotic of our age, may need to adjust to this titanic prose-poem’s leisurely, mandarin style.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2022
Some kind of bird started twittering in a tree farther down the road, otherwise all was silent.
From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl
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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.