twang

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
11
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈtwæŋ/
See all 5 pronunciations
/ˈtwæŋ/ · [ˈtʰwæŋ] · /ˈtweɪ̯ŋ/ (US) · [ˈtʰweɪ̯ŋ] ~ /ˈtwɛ̃ŋ/ (US) · [ˈtʰwɛ̃ŋ] (US)

Definition of twang

10 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. 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 deluge that never receded till it rose over the dead body of the last Moor.”
See all 10 definitions

noun

  1. 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 deluge that never receded till it rose over the dead body of the last Moor.”
  2. A particular sharp vibrating sound characteristic of electric guitars.
  3. 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 burr.”
  4. The sound quality that appears in the human voice when the epilaryngeal tube is narrowed.
    “Near-synonym: nasality”
    “nasal twang”
  5. 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 in a place where air and germs can't get to it?”
  6. (slang, vulgar)An annoying or stupid person; especially, a recalcitrant.

verb

  1. (ambitransitive)To produce or cause to produce a sharp vibrating sound, like a tense string pulled and suddenly let go.
  2. (intransitive)To have a nasal sound.
  3. (intransitive)To have a trace of a regional or foreign accent.
  4. To play a stringed musical instrument by plucking and snapping.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

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”).

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to twang to make another valid word.

Find your best play with twang

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes twang, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.