to twiddle
8
5.5
- verb
- /ˈtwɪdəl/
:
girar
- And don't twiddle your fingers!
- twiddling thumbs
- twiddling fingers
- sit and twiddle
He held it in his hand, that's all, and he twiddled it around, and what was he doing?
- He held it in his hand, that's all, and he twiddled it around, and what was he doing?
- The point is we have stem cells available to us, but they just sit there and twiddle their thumbs until they're called into action.
- And the the way the Democrats sit around and twiddle their thumbs on this shit, they should have acted swiftly and quickly.
- How come when they say sexual encounters, it's an alien hand twiddling a lady's wristwatch?
- How often are you twiddling the dials and refining this and tweaking this?
- I'm going to try and twiddle the dials on Rob to see if you guys want to speak.
Examples
-
While waiting for the meeting to start, she began to twiddle the pen in her fingers.
-
He held it in his hand, that's all, and he twiddled it around, and what was he doing?
-
And what am I supposed to do, twiddle my thumbs?
-
Now I'm going to quickly twiddle the knobs here.
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How long can I sit here twiddling my thumbs?
-
But you can't just sit and twiddle your thumbs when you live in the countryside.
Fiction book (1996) -
We were twiddling our thumbs, waiting for something really big to sink our teeth into.
Fiction book (2001) -
I get the feeling our representatives just sit around twiddling their thumbs while others are working hard for their constituents.
Blog text (16) -
I remember twiddling my thumbs, wondering how the heck I was going to tell my husband.
Blog text (15) -
Her right hand twiddled a lock of hair, and her left drummed impatiently on the immaculate tablecloth.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
89
1.0
To move with small, quick movements from side to side or up and down
70
2.0
To spin something or yourself quickly and lightly
46
3.2
To move something in short, quick shaking movements
32
3.9
To touch or move something nervously without thinking
28
3.7
To twist and turn the body with small quick movements to get free
26
3.4
To make small nervous movements, often with hands or feet
To turn something quickly between the fingers, like a pen or coin
To move something lightly and repeatedly so it shakes
To touch or move something lightly with your hands
Antonyms
Idioms
How Fidgety
Surface Forms
Etymology
Twiddle likely comes from a small, imitative 'tw-' sound that suggests turning, like in twist and twirl. Think of turning a pen between your fingers, and that image explains why it means 'to move something again and again with your fingers'.