| twitch | 1. The act of twitching; a pull with a jerk; a short, sudden, quick pull; as, a twitch by the sleeve. 2. A short, spastic contraction of the fibres or muscles; a simple muscular contraction; as, convulsive twitches; a twitch in the side. 3. <veterinary> A stick with a hole in one end through which passes a loop, which can be drawn tightly over the upper lip or an ear of a horse. By twisting the stick the compression is made sufficiently painful to keep the animal quiet during a slight surgical operation. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| twitch grass | <botany> See Quitch grass. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| twitch muscle | <physiology> Striated muscle innervated by a single motoneuron and having an electrically excitable membrane that exhibits an all or none response (c.f. Tonic muscle): in mammals almost all skeletal muscles are twitch muscles. Physiologists often divide muscles into fast and slow twitch types, the fast twitch muscles being associated with fast motor units. (18 Nov 1997) |