/twæŋ/
OriginOnomatopoeic. 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”).
- The sharp, quick sound of a vibrating tight string, for example, of a bow or a musical instrument.
“Let me give you in rude recitation, with here and there a twang and a caper of the guitar-strings, my vision of the Cid's sally from his besieged castle of Alcocer—the first outburst of that Spanish d”
- A particular sharp vibrating sound characteristic of electric guitars.
- A trace of a regional or foreign accent in someone's voice.
“Despite having lived in Canada for 20 years, he still has that Eastern-European twang in his voice.”
“A few insinuated that the American was not first-rate in Shakespeare, and one or two snidely detected a twang of the backwoods in his accent; […]”
“Judging by the new voice over the PA, we've had a crew change in Plymouth - the warning about masks and the apology for lack of catering is made in a chirpy Cockney twang rather than a West Country bu”
- The sound quality that appears in the human voice when the epilaryngeal tube is narrowed.
“Near-synonym: nasality”
“nasal twang”
- A sharp, pungent taste or flavor; sometimes, a disagreeable one specifically.
“spicy twang”
“Buttermilk also tastes different today. What do people do when they make buttermilk for the public that gives buttermilk that twang taste? Do these people put milk in an aging tank to mature like wine”
- ambitransitiveTo produce or cause to produce a sharp vibrating sound, like a tense string pulled and suddenly let go.
- intransitiveTo have a nasal sound.
- intransitiveTo have a trace of a regional or foreign accent.
- To play a stringed musical instrument by plucking and snapping.
Formstwangs(plural) · twangs(present, singular, third-person) · twanging(participle, present) · twanged(participle, past) · twanged(past)