twiddle
/ˈtwɪdəl/ verb, noun
Forms twiddles twiddling twiddled
- verb (transitive) To wiggle, fidget or play with; to move around. “She sat and nervously twiddled her hair while she waited.”
- verb (transitive, computing) To flip or switch two adjacent bits (binary digits).
- verb (transitive, mathematics) To be in an equivalence relation with.
- verb (intransitive) To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.
- noun A slight twist with the fingers.
- noun A wiggling movement.
- noun A small decorative embellishment.
- noun A small musical flourish.
- noun A tilde.
- noun A drawn line that is curvy or twisted.
- noun A tiny bit.
- noun A tizzy.
Synonyms
Etymology
Unknown. Perhaps a blend of twirl, twist, or twitch; fiddle.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To touch lightly, or play with; to tweedle; to twirl; as, to twiddle one's thumbs; to twiddle a watch key. [Written also twidle.]
- verb To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.
- noun A slight twist with the fingers.
- noun A pimple. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Etymology [Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Tweedle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “twiddle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details