twiddle

verb
twid·​dle | \ ˈtwi-dᵊl How to pronounce twiddle (audio) \
twiddled; twiddling\ ˈtwid-​liŋ How to pronounce twiddling (audio) , ˈtwi-​dᵊl-​iŋ \

Definition of twiddle

 (Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to play negligently with something : fiddle
2 : to turn or jounce lightly twiddles round and round in the water— J. B. S. Haldane

transitive verb

: to rotate lightly or idly twiddled his pen
twiddle one's thumbs
: to spend time idly : do nothing

twiddle

noun

Definition of twiddle (Entry 2 of 2)

: turn, twist

Examples of twiddle in a Sentence

Verb

Just twiddle the dial on the radio a bit for better reception. Twiddle the knob on the telescope until things are in focus. She twiddled her pen while she talked on the phone. She twiddled with her pen while she talked on the phone.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

With the second Ashes Test delayed by the typically rainy English summer, both sets of players will be sat twiddling their thumbs in their dressing rooms trying to think of conversations to take the edge off of the excruciating tension. SI.com, "The Ashes: The Cricketers Who Are Also Huge Football Fans," 14 Aug. 2019 Most were operated by someone twiddling joysticks at a safe distance. The Economist, "Cleaning up nuclear waste is an obvious task for robots," 20 June 2019 The England legend then has an extra 100 seconds to organise and galvanise his troops, whilst the Qatari players twiddle their thumbs, losing all of their momentum, and handing England the greatest trophy on Earth, Sounds ridiculous, right? SI.com, "5 Weird and Wonderful Laws From Other Sports That Should Be Implemented in Football," 31 July 2019 Bacteria have an unfortunate — and inaccurate — public image as isolated cells twiddling about on microscope slides. Quanta Magazine, "Bacteria Use Brainlike Bursts of Electricity to Communicate," 5 Sep. 2017 Right about now, college sports fans are twiddling their thumbs and waiting anxiously for the start of football season just over 60 days away. Rana Cash, The Courier-Journal, "How many football games will Louisville and Kentucky win? See win projections," 26 June 2019 In effect the policy creates a knob, which can be twiddled between a redistribution of capital and control, all the way to handing the means of production to workers wholesale (as was Mr Meidner’s original intention, until ABBA intervened). The Economist, "The winner (no longer) takes it all," 15 June 2019 But at least some of them aren’t doing the genetic equivalent of twiddling their thumbs. Quanta Magazine, "A Surprise Source of Life’s Code," 18 Aug. 2015 Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are waiting for teams to stop twiddling their thumbs. Ben Cohen, WSJ, "NBA Stars Are Upending Basketball. Baseball’s Best Players Are Unemployed.," 6 Feb. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Pilots sit behind a modern avionic dashboard and twiddle control sticks to direct advanced, swiveling engines. Andrew Van Dam, chicagotribune.com, "The blimp industry is changing, right over our noses," 12 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'twiddle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of twiddle

Verb

circa 1540, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1774, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for twiddle

Verb

origin unknown

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More Definitions for twiddle

twiddle

verb

English Language Learners Definition of twiddle

: to turn (something) back and forth slightly

twiddle

verb
twid·​dle | \ ˈtwi-dᵊl How to pronounce twiddle (audio) \
twiddled; twiddling

Kids Definition of twiddle

: twirl entry 1 I twiddled my thumbs.