[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/twiddle.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / twiddle

[← T](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/T/)

# twiddle

«twiddle» in Mova's school dictionary: **To twist, turn or play with something with your fingers…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (twiddle, twiddles, twiddled, twiddling); noun (a twiddle)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To twist, turn or play with something with your fingers, often without thinking: twiddle a knob, twiddle your hair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#m1)

2) (phrase) «twiddle your thumbs» = to sit doing nothing, waiting, bored. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

Everyday: twiddling the dial on a radio, twiddling a pencil. «Twiddling our thumbs» = wasting time while waiting. In stories it shows nervousness or boredom.

### examples

- Stop twiddling your hair! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#x1)
- He twiddled the knob to find the station. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#x2)
- We sat twiddling our thumbs while the bus was late. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#x3)
- She twiddled her pencil during the test. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#x4)
- Toad twiddled his thumbs, bored with the river. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#x5)
- Twiddle the dial to set the oven. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/#x6)

### note

Informal. Regular verb. Similar: fiddle, twirl, twist.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «twiddle» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twiddle/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.