twiddle
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to play or trifle idly with something; fiddle.
-
to turn about lightly; twirl.
noun
idioms
verb
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to twirl or fiddle (with), often in an idle way
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to do nothing; be unoccupied
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(intr) to turn, twirl, or rotate
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rare (intr) to be occupied with trifles
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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twiddlesimple
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twiddlessimple
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have twiddledperfect
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has twiddledperfect
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am twiddlingprogressive
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are twiddlingprogressive
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is twiddlingprogressive
-
have been twiddlingperfect progressive
-
has been twiddlingperfect progressive
Past
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twiddledsimple
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had twiddledperfect
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was twiddlingprogressive
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were twiddlingprogressive
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had been twiddlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of twiddle
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.
See Examples For:
"It's July 2023. Building out the leadership of that operation today, so they can sit around and twiddle their thumbs for the next six months would be nuts," he said.
From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2023
During offseasons, she’d twiddle her thumbs, unsure of what exactly to do with herself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
After engaging the system, you can twiddle your toes and put your hands in the air like you just don’t care.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2022
We have no more time to twiddle our collective thumbs.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 11, 2020
When he heard her coming, he would lay aside his work, lean back, and twiddle his thumbs.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Abrasive, shallow and giddily watchable, her Wow Platinum — what a name! — twiddles her clawed fingers like a femme fatale dead certain she can charm her way to the top.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Liberated from chronology and fact, the comedy-drama twiddles the timeline of Catherine’s career and marriage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2021
“We can’t afford to allow more devastation to be caused to the park while the Park Service twiddles their thumbs trying to come up with an expensive plan,” Gosar said in a statement this week.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 26, 2016
Eye blinks, finger twiddles, fidgeting — there’s no detail too small for the timer to add to the exposure sheet, ensuring the team in LA maximum control over what the South Korean animation studio delivers.
From The Verge ● Oct. 25, 2015
He twiddles his thumbs and takes a few measured breaths.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
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
There was a woman in a leather hat complaining that she had been treated rudely by a county worker, a man watching while he twiddled a Rubik’s Cube.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2022
Attempting to locate one of the rarest animals on the planet, US government scientist Joe Madison pointed an antiquated VHF tracking antenna at a tangle of thick vegetation and twiddled some dials on the receiver.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 7, 2019
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
Charles’s mom coyly twiddled her fingertips against her cheek.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
“It’s not like we’re twiddling our thumbs and trying to get some money. This is a very serious condition,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2026
Meanwhile Miami, which had been ranked behind Notre Dame, and like the Irish, had been inactive and twiddling thumbs over conference championship weekend, vaulted over South Bend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
Not that the Russian automobile industry is sitting twiddling its thumbs.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024
The court granted cert to the case on Wednesday, after twiddling its thumbs for 16 days, and it scheduled oral arguments for April 22.
From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2024
Wasn’t silly, wasn’t always twiddling her plaits, didn’t tattle or gossip, didn’t hit boys over the head with books or scrape the back of your neck with a sweetgum burr when you weren’t looking.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
