twitter

Etymology

From Middle English twitren, twiteren, from Old English twiterian, from Proto-West Germanic *twitwiʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną (“to chirp; twitter”). Cognate with Low German twitteren (“to twitter”), German zwitzern, zwitschern (“to twitter”). Compare also Dutch kwetteren (“to twitter”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter”), Swedish kvittra (“to twitter”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to twitter”).

noun

1. The sound of a succession of chirps as uttered by birds.
   I often listen to the twitter of the birds in the park.
2. (countable) A tremulous broken sound.
3. A slight trembling of the nerves.
4. Unwanted flicker that occurs in interlaced displays when the image contains vertical detail that approaches the horizontal resolution of the video format.
   Interline twitter occurs on interlaced displays at half the field-rate. 1986, Second International Conference on Simulators: 7-11 September 1986, IEEE, page 145

verb

1. (intransitive) To utter a succession of chirps.
   The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, / The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, 1750, Thomas Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in The Works of Thomas Gray, volume I, published 1825, page 114
   The swallows, which had been tempted here in great numbers on account of the quantity of insects to be found in proximity to the wood, and had established themselves in the barn and under the eaves, were gambolling, circling, and twittering fearlessly about in the sunshine. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 278
2. (intransitive, transitive) (of a person) To talk in an excited or nervous manner.
3. To make the sound of a half-suppressed laugh; to titter; to giggle.
4. To have a slight trembling of the nerves; to be excited or agitated.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To twit; to reproach or upbraid.
6. Alternative form of Twitter
   In addition to listing specific earmarks he finds the most reprehensible, McCain said he has been twittering the “top ten” most egregious 2 March 2009, Michelle Levi, “McCain Criticizes Obama On The Senate Floor”, in CBS News, retrieved 2009-03-02
7. (intransitive) To move like a songbird.
   A blue jay twittered by me.