jitter
noun
jit·ter
| \ ˈji-tər
\
\
Definition of jitter
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
jitters plural
: a sense of panic or extreme nervousness
had a bad case of the jitters before his performance
2
: the state of mind or the movement of one that jitters
3
: irregular random movement (as of a pointer or an image on a television screen)
also
: vibratory motion
jitter
verb
jittered;
jittering;
jitters
Definition of jitter (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to make continuous fast repetitive movements
2
: to be nervous or act in a nervous way
Examples of jitter in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The financial jitters, which continued Thursday as markets in Asia were down in early trading, came after new data showed the German economy hurtling toward a recession and factory output in China growing at its slowest pace in 17 years. — Nelson D. Schwartz, New York Times, "Markets Are Shaken by New Signs of Global Economic Trouble," 14 Aug. 2019 Instead of taming back-to-school jitters, though, the parents of students who were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, are working strategically to prevent another school shooting. — Olivia Sanchez, USA TODAY, "Parkland parents deliver message to Congress: 'We know the next school mass murderer is already out there'," 25 July 2019 California’s regulatory regime is enough to give anyone the jitters, so good news that the state signed off Monday on a new rule admitting that coffee won’t kill you. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Coffee Doesn’t Kill After All," 5 June 2019 But jitters about Hong Kong's trade status are adding to tensions between the U.S. and China. — Naomi Xu Elegant, Fortune, "‘It’s Life or Death:’ Hong Kong Protests Risk Its Special Trade Relationship With the U.S.," 19 Aug. 2019 That may reassure some consumers, but this week’s fluctuations in the stock market are likely to add to their jitters. — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, "No Wonder the Economy Has Trump Spooked," 16 Aug. 2019 The underperformance reflects jitters about the U.S. economy and interest rates, as well as credit quality. — Allison Prang, WSJ, "Investors Shun Banks Buying Other Banks," 16 June 2019 Keep your cool and calm their jitters by giving them a warm hi and a quick hello hug. — Seventeen, "7 Tips to Rock Your First Date!," 30 Oct. 2018 On Tuesday, the Dow and other indexes recovered a bit, but jitters remained. — Ishaan Tharoor, The Denver Post, "Tharoor: Trump and Xi lock horns — and drag the world with them," 8 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The bad news is that latency is a lot higher, and controller position jittered a lot while moving, especially at high speeds. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "HTC Vive Focus hands-on impressions: No-PC, no-wires VR at a too-steep price," 9 Nov. 2018 Tracking was generally good, but objects occasionally shifted or jittered. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "I tried Magic Leap and saw a flawed glimpse of mixed reality’s amazing potential," 8 Aug. 2018 This happens all the time but, in Riley's composition, the periodic black and white edges are jittered in a way that generates apparent motion. — Daniel Glaser, A-LIST, "Out of Your Mind," 1 July 2018 Sure enough, the more the eyes jittered, the stronger the effect. — Daniel Glaser, A-LIST, "Out of Your Mind," 1 July 2018 The fragility of investors’ appetite for Greek debt was shown in recent weeks when market jitters over Italy also led to a rise in Greek bond yields. — Nektaria Stamouli, WSJ, "Eurozone Gives Greece Some Debt Relief as Bailout Nears End," 22 June 2018 Jones said this is not the first time in recent months that jitters over growing nuclear tensions have boosted sales of potassium iodide, which comes in tablet and liquid form and should be taken within hours of exposure to radiation. — NBC News, "Anti-radiation drug sales skyrocket after ‘nuclear button’ tweet," 11 Jan. 2018 The effort has produced impressive growth but also jitters among trading partners who fret about the government’s harsh treatment of domestic dissidents and labor activists. — Mike Ives, New York Times, "A Disappearance in Berlin Clouds a Trade Deal in Vietnam," 2 Nov. 2017 That helped me get my first game jitters out of the way. — Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle, "Rockets unsure on Chris Paul's return," 21 Oct. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jitter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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