twit
/twɪt/ verb, noun, interjection
Forms twits twitting twitted twittest twittedst twitteth
- verb To blame or reproach (someone), especially in a good-natured or teasing manner; also, to ridicule or tease (someone).
- verb (archaic) To criticize or disapprove of (something), especially in a good-natured or teasing manner.
- verb (computing) To ignore or kill file (a user on a bulletin board system).
- verb (obsolete) Followed by it: to speak or write (something) in a taunting or teasing manner.
- verb To blame or reproach, especially in a good-natured or teasing manner.
- verb (obsolete except UK, dialectal) To be indiscreet; to gossip.
- noun A jibe, reproach, or taunt, especially one made in a good-natured or teasing manner.
- noun (informal) An annoying or foolish person.
- noun (UK, Ireland, dialectal, archaic) 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.
- interjection (onomatopoeia) Used to represent the short, high-pitched call of a small bird, or a similar sound made by something else: cheep, tweet.
- noun A short, high-pitched call of a small bird, or a similar sound made by something else; a cheep, a chirp, a tweet.
- noun (chiefly US, informal) Chiefly in the form in a twit: clipping of twitter (“a state of excitement or nervousness”).
Synonyms
censure upbraid accuse atwite blame bumble challenge cop out decry defame denounce fault finger inculpate lay at someone's door lay on lay something at the feet of patronize point the bone put it to twerp twirp taunt taunting tease razz rag cod tantalize tantalise
Etymology
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”)). Piecewise doublet of advise.
The noun is probably derived from the verb, although it is attested in print earlier.
Imitative of a bird’s call.
Clipping of twitter.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To vex by bringing to notice, or reminding of, a fault, defect, misfortune, or the like; to revile; to reproach; to upbraid; to taunt; as, he twitted his friend of falsehood.
Etymology [OE. atwiten, AS. ætwitan to reproach, blame; æt at + witan to reproach, blame; originally, to observe, see, hence, to observe what is wrong (cf. the meanings of E. animadvert; akin to G. verweisen to censure, OHG. firwizan, Goth. traweitan to avenge, L. videre to see. See Vision, Wit.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “twit”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details