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To pinch and pull with a sudden jerk and twist; to twitch; as, to tweak the nose. Shak.

To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains. The gnat . . . twinged him [the lion] till he made him tear himself, and so mastered him. L'Estrange.

A closing or opening, or a quick motion, of the eye; a wink or sparkle of the eye. Suddenly, with twinkle of her eye, The damsel broke his misintended dart. Spenser.

To pull with a sudden jerk; to pluck with a short, quick motion; to snatch; as, to twitch one by the sleeve; to twitch a thing out of another's hand; to twitch off clusters of grapes. Thrice they twitched the diamond in her ear. Pope.

, Without design or preparation; suddenly; without premeditation, unexpectedly. "Mercies lighting unawares." J. H. Newman. Lest unawares we lose This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill. Milton. At unaware, or At unawares, unexpectedly; by surprise. He breaks at unawares upon our walks. Dryden. So we met In this ol…

icient; inferior; as, the man was unequal to the emergency; the timber was unequal to the sudden strain.

Not expected; coming without warning; sudden. -- Un`ex*pect"ed*ly, adv. -- Un`ex*pect"ed*ness, n.

soul's up in arms. Dryden. Grief and passion are like floods raised in little brooks by a sudden rain; they are quickly up. Dryden. A general whisper ran among the country people, that Sir Roger was up. Addison. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate. Longfellow.

To start or spring up suddenly. Spenser. Tennyson.

nic phenomena are most active. -- Volcanic glass, the vitreous form of lava, produced by sudden cooling; obsidian. See Obsidian. -- Volcanic mud, fetid, sulphurous mud discharged by a volcano. -- Volcanic rocks, rocks which have been produced from the discharges of volcanic matter, as the various kinds of basalt, tr…

Discharged with a sudden burst, or as if in a volley; as, volleyed thunder.

A sudden movement to avoid a thrust.

se; to excite. "I shall waken all this company." Chaucer. Lest fierce remembrance wake my sudden rage. Milton. Even Richard's crusade woke little interest in his island realm. J. R. Green.

To sing with sudden changes from chest to head tones; to yodel.

ied by a king or a commander in chief, and used in signaling his will. When, lo! the king suddenly changed his mind, Casts down his warder to arrest them there. Daniel. Wafting his warder thrice about his head, He cast it up with his auspicious hand, Which was the signal, through the English spread, This they should ch…

straca belonging to the genera Cyclops, Daphnia, etc; -- so called because they swim with sudden leaps, or starts.

A sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which attacks women in childbed. [Scot.]

To throw one's self quickly, or by an abrupt motion; to turn suddenly; as, she whapped down on the floor; the fish whapped over. Bartlett.

A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke. But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword The unnerved father falls. Shak. The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe, And a scornful laugh laughed he. Longfellow.

A sudden turn or start of the mind; a temporary eccentricity; a freak; a fancy; a capricious notion; a humor; a caprice. Let every man enjoy his whim. Churchill.