twang
/twaŋ
/noun
1A strong ringing sound such as that made by the plucked string of a musical instrument or a released bowstring: there was a twang from Marian’s bow the twang of snapping metal...
- Sure enough, the echoing twang of a bowstring sounded.
- As he exhaled, Erik let his arrow fly with a sharp twang of the string, the sound echoed thirty times over as the rest of the cadets fired.
- Celil was suddenly thrust back into reality from her daydream by the bellow of a war-horn, screeches and roars, and the twang of bowstrings.
2A nasal or other distinctive manner of pronunciation or intonation characteristic of the speech of an individual, area, or country: an American twang...
- The distinct nasal twang of an ‘American’ accent echoes thought the plane.
- ‘Beaucoup de vent’ sounds more like ‘beaucoup du vin’ and the twang gets more nasal the further south you go.
- There is a laconic drawl, an ever so slight nasal twang to his voice.
verb
1Make or cause to make a twang: [no object]: a spring twanged beneath him [with object]: some old men were twanging banjos...
- The bed springs twanged and the wooden floor boards responded with a creak.
- You could almost hear the good vibrations twanging in the air.
- She ran into the harp, and it twanged in protest.
2 [with object] Utter (something) with a nasal twang: the announcer was twanging out all the details...
- Just because you sing with the odd hiccup or twang a certain phrase doesn't mean you can say you're singing country music.
Derivatives
twangy
- One minute he's delivering clean, fast, twangy lines, the next is using the Wah Wah pedal to great effect or experimenting with just a touch of scratchy noise, all done in impeccable taste.
- The lead characters both and walk and talk like typical teens while a twangy folk song that sounds like a mix between John Denver and Kenny G plays in the background.
- Although the music is less twangy and more melodic, it doesn't lose the band's traditional bluesy/folk style.
Origin
Mid 16th century: imitative.