Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

You could follow the text at the bottom of the screen, but most people just twiddled their thumbs and waited.

From BBC • Nov. 1, 2025

They all largely twiddled their thumbs as accusations mounted that much was unhealthy in the GET-THIN campaign.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2021

Alma’s poltergeist not only twiddled necklaces but sprang them from shop counters; it whipped saucers across rooms, upended eiderdowns, spun rings on to fingers.

From The Guardian • Sep. 19, 2020

Ever since Singapore, Kim’s negotiators—many of whom have been at their jobs since the arms talks with the Clinton administration, a quarter-century ago—have pretty much twiddled their thumbs in their sessions with the U.S. team.

From Slate • Oct. 4, 2018

Her gaze skipped from one spot to another, her fingers twiddled with the edge of her shirt.

From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau