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Twit
Definitions
- 1 Used to represent the short, high-pitched call of a small bird, or a similar sound made by something else: cheep, tweet. onomatopoeic
"Midnights bell goes ting, ting, ting, ting, ting, / Then dogs doe hovvle, and not a bird does ſing: / But the Nightingale, and ſhe cries tvvit, tvvit, tvvit, tvvit, / Ovvles then on euerie bovve doe ſit."
- 1 A jibe, reproach, or taunt, especially one made in a good-natured or teasing manner.
"[T]he ſayd Thomas Hilles & this Reſpondent ſhevvyd the Frear Barons of certayne old Bookes that they had: as of iiij Evangeliſtes, and certayne Epiſtles of Peter & Poule in Engliſhe. VVhich Bookes the ſayd Frear dyd litle regard, and made a tvvyte of it, & ſayd, A poynt for them, for they be not to be regarded tovvard the nevv printed Teſtament in Engliſhe."
- 2 A short, high-pitched call of a small bird, or a similar sound made by something else; a cheep, a chirp, a tweet.
"The minutes seem'd hours—with impatience she heard / The flap of a leaf, and the twit of a bird; […]"
- 3 Chiefly in the form in a twit: clipping of twitter (“a state of excitement or nervousness”). US, informal
- 4 Clipping of twitter (“a knot or other defect in a thread or yarn which hinders spinning or weaving”). Northern-England, Scotland, abbreviation, alt-of, archaic, clipping
"[I]s't a cursed wab o' yarn / That winna work, for knots and twits, / Spun by some thoughtless drabby sluts, / Whase minds on naething else is carried, / But thinking when they will be married; […]"
- 5 aggravation by deriding or mocking or criticizing wordnet
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- 6 An annoying or foolish person. informal
"What do you mean, since when did I become such a radical fairy! […] Since I started knowing twits like you, you twit!"
- 7 someone who is regarded as contemptible wordnet
- 8 A person who chatters or gossips inanely; a chatterer, a gossip or gossiper; also, a person who divulges private information about others or is indiscreet; a tattletale. British, Ireland, archaic, dialectal
"Young Strephon he has Woo'd me long, / And Courted me with Pipe and Song; / But I a silly, silly peevish Twit, / For want of Sense, for want of Wit, / Have phoo'd, and cry'd, / Have pish'd, and fy'd, / And play'd the fool, and lost my Time, / And almost slipp'd, and almost slipp'd, / And almost slipp'd my Maiden Prime."
- 1 To blame or reproach (someone), especially in a good-natured or teasing manner; also, to ridicule or tease (someone). transitive
"No man for deſpite, / By worde or by write / His felowe to twite, […]"
- 2 harass with persistent criticism or carping wordnet
- 3 To criticize or disapprove of (something), especially in a good-natured or teasing manner. archaic, transitive
"But in the Lovver Houſe ſome there vvere vvhich handled theſe things more tumultuouſly, namely, Bell and Monſon, great Lavvyers, Dutton, Paul VVentvvorth, and others, vvhich tvvitted the Authority of the Queen's Majeſty too much, […]"
- 4 To ignore or kill file (a user on a bulletin board system). transitive
"However, on the Internet BBS's such as Quartz (now dead), Prism, Monsoon, Sunset, ect,^([sic – meaning etc]) someone pulling that kind of crap is likely to get flamed quite fast and twitted before he/she can breathe."
- 5 Followed by it: to speak or write (something) in a taunting or teasing manner. obsolete, transitive
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- 6 To blame or reproach, especially in a good-natured or teasing manner. intransitive, transitive
"Secrecy about B.R. plans for reorganisation and closure of lines and notably some failures to consult with staff representatives concerned with redundancy, are defects with which the railway unions have twitted Dr. Beeching."
- 7 To be indiscreet; to gossip. dialectal, intransitive
Etymology
PIE word *h₂éd The verb is an apheretic form of atwite (“(obsolete) to blame, reproach”), from Middle English atwiten (“to attribute (something) to someone; to blame (something) on someone; to accuse or charge (someone) with something; to speak ill of; to taunt”), from Old English ætwītan (“to blame, reproach; to censure, upbraid; to taunt”), from æt- (prefix meaning ‘at, near; toward’) + wītan (“to accuse; to blame, reproach”) (from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“to punish; to torment; to know; to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”)). The noun is probably derived from the verb, although it is attested in print earlier.
PIE word *h₂éd The verb is an apheretic form of atwite (“(obsolete) to blame, reproach”), from Middle English atwiten (“to attribute (something) to someone; to blame (something) on someone; to accuse or charge (someone) with something; to speak ill of; to taunt”), from Old English ætwītan (“to blame, reproach; to censure, upbraid; to taunt”), from æt- (prefix meaning ‘at, near; toward’) + wītan (“to accuse; to blame, reproach”) (from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“to punish; to torment; to know; to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”)). The noun is probably derived from the verb, although it is attested in print earlier.
Imitative of a bird’s call.
Imitative of a bird’s call.
Clipping of twitter.
Clipping of twitter.
See also for "twit"
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