twitch
n. countablen. a sudden, quick movement of a muscle that you cannot control. It often happens in your eye or your hand when you are tired or stressed.
n. a short, sudden convulsive movement of a muscle or body part. Often involuntary and repetitive in nature.
He has a nervous twitch in his left eye.
The athlete noticed a slight twitch in her calf muscle after the long training session.
The patient's involuntary facial twitch became more pronounced whenever he was asked to recall the specific details of the accident.
From Middle English twicchen, from Old English twiċċan, from Proto-West Germanic twikkijan (“to nail, pin, fasten, clasp, pinch”). Cognate with English tweak, Low German twikken, German Low German twicken (“to pinch, pinch off”), zweckōn and gizwickan (> German zwicken (“to pinch”)).
alternate of quitch
Often used with the preposition 'in' to specify the affected body part.