Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To twitch; cause to twitch convulsively, as the muscles and nerves of animals.
- To move spasmodically; twitch, as a nerve.
- To carp or detract.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To move spasmodically; to twitch.
- transitive verb To twitch; to cause to twitch convulsively.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb to
touch (abody part )lightly so as toexcite thesurface nerves andcause uneasiness ,laughter , orspasmodic movements - verb to
irritate as if by anip ,pinch , ortear - verb to pinch
- verb make to twitch
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear
- verb touch (a body part) lightly so as to excite the surface nerves and cause uneasiness, laughter, or spasmodic movements
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word vellicate.
Examples
-
There can be no doubt that bodies which are rough and angular, rouse and vellicate the organs of feeling, causing a sense of pain, which consists in the violent tension or contraction of the muscular fibres.
-
Some think these almonds have a penetrating, abstersive quality, are able to cleanse the face, and clear it from the common freckles; and therefore, when they are eaten, by their bitterness vellicate and fret the pores, and by that means draw down the ascending vapors from the head.
Symposiacs 2004
-
But our baths now inflame, vellicate, and distress; and the air which we draw is a mixture of air and water, disturbs the whole body, tosses and displaces every atom, till we quench the fiery particles and allay their heat.
-
Some think these almonds have a penetrating, abstersive quality, are able to cleanse the face, and clear it from the common freckles; and therefore, when they are eaten, by their bitterness vellicate and fret the pores, and by that means draw down the ascending vapors from the head.
-
But our baths now inflame, vellicate, and distress; and the air which we draw is a mixture of air and water, disturbs the whole body, tosses and displaces every atom, till we quench the fiery particles and allay their heat.
Symposiacs 2004
-
If any shall undertake to vellicate and pluck some of the branches, rent from the roots and principles of the whole discourse, I shall freely give them leave to enjoy their own wisdom and imaginary conquest.
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ 1616-1683 1967
-
There can be no doubt that bodies which are rough and angular, rouse and vellicate the organs of feeling, causing a sense of pain, which consists in the violent tension or contraction of the muscular fibres.
-
Thus, if you vellicate the throat with a feather, nausea is produced; if you wound it with a penknife, pain is induced, but not sickness.
Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life Erasmus Darwin 1766
-
There can be no doubt that bodies which are rough and angular, rouse and vellicate the organs of feeling, causing a sense of pain, which consists in the violent tension or contraction of the muscular fibres.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) Edmund Burke 1763
-
I want this ennui to finally gormandize me, obliterate me, vellicate me until my bones break from the shaking.
Art of Starving artofstarving 2010
sophy26 commented on the word vellicate
"It was nothing much--just a tiny vellicating muscle in the corner of the left eye, like a secret wink--but the annoying thing was that it refused to disappear until an hour or so after the train or plane or whatever it was had been safely caught." The Way up to Heaven by Roald Dahl
October 31, 2010
qms commented on the word vellicate
Persuasion is surer when delicate.
So subtle is best in your predicate.
Show but a glint;
Entice with a hint.
You won't need to strike if you vellicate.
October 15, 2014
qms commented on the word vellicate
When amorous urges accelerate
A prudent seducer will hesitate.
As moods can be fickle
First test with a tickle.
It's safer at first if you vellicate.
October 7, 2016
yarb commented on the word vellicate
"After having examined the symptoms, he declared that the patient had been poisoned with arsenic, and prescribed only draughts and lubricating injections, to defend the coats of the stomach and intestines from the vellicating particles of that pernicious mineral..."
— Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, 1751
January 15, 2022