Twerk

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /twɝk/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)k
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k

twerpjerk.

Full definition of twerk

Noun

1. (slang, dated, US) A puny or insignificant person, generally male; a twerp.
• 1930, Walter D. Edmonds, The Big Barn, page 207:"'...but when they load a pack onto you, what'll you do? A little twerk like you?'"
• 1932, Forum and Century vol. 87 http://books.google.com/books?ei=fz75RqyPOoWcpgKW19m0Dw:"But even then the poor twerk's whiskers and little eyes looked kind of wistful as if the clothes had got him and was taking him somewhere..."
• 2003, Bernard Kamoroff, Small Time Operator http://books.google.com/books?id=9qlizjnOrVcC, ISBN 0917510186, page 19,You don't need those twerks who walk in off the street.

Usage notes

Found primarily in the 1930s-era works of Walter D. Edmonds.

twitchjerk.

Noun

1. A fitful movement similar to a twitch or jerk.
• 1898, William Brigham, "Director's Report" in Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Museum vol. 1 no. 1, page 42:"Not so the Freycineti, who looked me over critically, elevated his head crest, and giving his tail an odd little twerk, proceeded to hop deliberately up the limb like a sap-sucker..."
• 1920, Lilian C. McNamara Garis, The Girl Scouts at Sea Crest: Or, The Wig Wag Rescue http://books.google.com/books?id=ulYCAAAAYAAJ, page 86,"I hardly realize it yet that you are my really truly coz," and she gave the girl's long, brown braids a familiar twerk.
• 1950, Robert S. Close, Love Me Sailor http://books.google.com/books?id=ySdBAAAAIAAJ, page 86,With a quick twerk at her shift, the girl lifted it to her rounded belly, and squatted nakedly on his lap.

Verb

1. To twitch or jerk.
• 1985, Criena Rohan, Down by the Docks http://books.google.com/books?id=ausNAAAAIAAJ, page 151,... in the language of the unsophisticated Port Melbourne suburbanite a bed was still something primarily intended for love-making – all the eyebrow-raising and moustache-twerking in Jo'burg couldn't alter that.
• 2005, Florence Hall Abssi, The Call http://books.google.com/books?id=OyAkYG9lwD4C, page 613:"He twerked an eyebrow at his wife."
2. To move the body in a sexually suggestive twisting or gyrating fashion.
• 2005, Euftis Emery, Off the Chain http://books.google.com/books?id=Ib1vEpY4TpwC, ISBN 1411630475, page 73,Gaea then stood up over me and turned so that her butt was facing me. She then had the nerve to start twerking.
• 2006, Lawrence Christopher, Ghettoway Weekend http://books.google.com/books?id=gOPfQEdpxkwC, ISBN 0971227845, page 96,"Shortie really knows how to twerk it don't she?" Marcus boasted, while still recording.
• 2006, Justin Timberlake feat. , "", :Let me see what ya twerkin with
3. To dance in a sexually suggestive manner, often involving rapid movement.
• 2013, Nichole Smith, ABC News, High School Students Suspended for Twerking http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/05/high-school-students-suspended-for-twerking/Twerking, as it is known in the hip-hop community, is a hard-hitting, rump-shaking dance move that celebrities including Beyonce and Miley Cyrus have been known to bust out, but it has also gotten a group of San Diego high school students suspended.

Usage notes

In “sexually suggestive movements, especially dance”, particularly popularized since c. 2000 by US hip-hop.

Derived terms

• twerker

Onomatopoeia, possibly coined by Roger Tory Peterson.

Noun

1. An abrupt call, such as made by the California Quail.
• 1961, Roger Tory Peterson, A Field Guide to Western Birds, Note of male on territory, a loud kurr or twerk.