Link Centre Dictionary

twang

UK/ˈtwæŋ/ US/ˈtʰwæŋ/ rare slang vulgar
noun (2) verb (5)

noun

1.
2.

exaggerated nasality in speech (as in some regional dialects)

Synonyms

verb

1.

cause to sound with a twang

  • “He twanged the guitar string”
2.

sound with a twang

  • “the bowstring was twanging”
3.

twitch or throb with pain

4.

pluck (strings of an instrument)

  • “He twanged his bow”
5.

Origin

Onomatopoeic. Compare Middle English twengen (“to pinch, tweak”) (whence modern English twinge), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, twinge”); Middle English twingen (“to afflict, torment, oppress”), from Old Norse þvinga (“to weigh down, oppress”); Old English twingan (“to force, press”).

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.