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There's a glitch in the etymology of glitch—it may come from the Yiddish glitsh, meaning "slippery place," but that's not certain. Print use of glitch referring to a brief unexpected surge of electrical current dates to the mid-20th century. Astronaut John Glenn, in his 1962 book Into Orbit, felt the need to explain the term to his readers: "Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical circuit which takes place when the circuit suddenly has a new load put on it." Today, the word can be used of any minor malfunction or snag. If you’re a gamer you might even take advantage of a glitch that causes something unexpected, and sometimes beneficial, to happen in the game.
Examples of glitch in a Sentence
Sasha Hupka, The Arizona Republic, 6 Nov. 2024
Temperatures in the low 70s and few polling place glitches made for a mostly smooth experience.
—Detroit Free Press Staff, Detroit Free Press, 6 Nov. 2024
Toyota’s Japanese manufacturing plants crank out about 13,500 new vehicles every day—but last year, 14 of them were knocked offline for 24 hours by a single software glitch.
—Chris Turlica, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Polling places in West Fork and Greenland were running smoothly with no glitches and short or no lines early Tuesday.
—Ron Wood, arkansasonline.com, 5 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Glitch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glitch. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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glitch
noun
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