Twiddle

/ˈtwɪdəl/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To wiggle, fidget or play with; to move around..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To wiggle, fidget or play with; to move around.
2. (transitive, computing) To flip or switch two adjacent bits (binary digits).
3. (transitive, mathematics) To be in an equivalence relation with.
4. (intransitive) To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.
5. A slight twist with the fingers.
6. A wiggling movement.
7. A small decorative embellishment.
8. A small musical flourish.

Example Sentences

She sat and nervously twiddled her hair while she waited.

The harder Small sang, the harder the cow chewed and the faster she twiddled her ears around as if stirring the song into the food to be rechewed in cud along with her breakfast.

He put away the receiver with a twiddle of pudgy fingers.

The hero, who must have been only a very few years older than Tom himself, gave a cursory nod and a twiddle of his fingers, then turned to his left to address Daniel Lysons who did not answer but caught Tom’s eye and raised his own eyebrow at this rudeness.

Why should I agree that a twiddle of skirts from right to left and pointing a toe in one direction mean “He loves me,” while the reverse twiddle and the toe pointed in the opposite direction “He loves me not”?

Instead, flagellar motion causes the bacterium to swim smoothly (called a run), then stop and tumble (a twiddle), followed by another period of smooth swimming

A raised white brow in my direction, and a twiddle of the pipe stem toward the trail indicated that his wife was at our house, if that's who I was looking for.

A great many fidgety occupations will come to an end: we shan’t put a pattern on a cloth or a twiddle on a jug-handle to sell it, but to make it prettier and to amuse ourselves and others.

Synonyms for twiddle

Antonyms for twiddle

Related Words

Word Forms

• twiddles
• twiddling
• twiddled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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