twiddle

v., -dled, -dling, -dles.

v.tr.
To turn over or around idly or lightly; fiddle with: "Couples are twiddling swizzle sticks while waiting for their tables" (Bryan Miller).

v.intr.

1. To trifle with something.
2. To be busy about trifles.
3. To twirl or rotate without purpose.

n.
The act or an instance of twiddling.

idiom:

twiddle (one's) thumbs

1. To do little or nothing; be idle.

[Possibly blend of TWIST and FIDDLE.]

twiddler twid'dler n.

verb

To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous or aimless fashion: fiddle, fidget, fool, monkey, play, putter, tinker, toy, trifle. See touch/not touch.

1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, ~). Also called squiggle, sqiggle (sic — pronounced /skig´l/), and twaddle, but twiddle is the most common term.

2. A small and insignificant change to a program. Usually fixes one bug and generates several new ones (see also shotgun debugging).

3. vt. To change something in a small way. Bits, for example, are often twiddled. Twiddling a switch or knobs implies much less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking it; see frobnicate. To speak of twiddling a bit connotes aimlessness, and at best doesn't specify what you're doing to the bit; ‘toggling a bit’ has a more specific meaning (see bit twiddling, toggle). 4. Uncommon name for the twirling baton prompt.

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IN BRIEF: Turn in a twisting or spinning motion.

Storybook happiness involves every form of pleasant thumb-twiddling; true happiness involves the full use of one's powers and talents. — John W. Gardner (1912-2002)

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - dreje på, trille
v. intr. - være letsindig i sin omgang med noget
n. - drejning, tvist

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    trille tommelfingre

Nederlands (Dutch)
friemelen

Français (French)
v. tr. - tripoter (cheveux), tourner (bouton)
v. intr. - tripoter, tourner, manier nonchalamment
n. - petit tour

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    se tourner les pouces

Deutsch (German)
v. - (müßig) herumdrehen, spielen mit, herumfummeln
n. - Drehen

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    Däumchen drehen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - παίζω τα δάχτυλά μου, στριφογυρίζω (κάτι) αμήχανα στα δάχτυλά μου
n. - συστροφή

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    αδρανώ, τεμπελιάζω

Italiano (Italian)
attorcigliare

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    rigirarsi i pollici

Português (Portuguese)
v. - palpitar, mexer ou girar com um objeto
n. - pequena volta com os dedos (f), giro (m)

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    girar com os polegares (na falta do que fazer)

Русский (Russian)
вертеть, бить баклуши, (о голосе) дрожать

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    (бесцельно) вертеть большими пальцами руки, ничего не делать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - juguetear con, jugar con, entretenerse con, hacer dar vueltas (los pulgares para entretenerse)
v. intr. - entretenerse, estar ocioso, ocuparse en naderías, temblar, vibrar, girar
n. - jugueteo, vuelta, giro

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    voltear los pulgares

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - sno mellan fingrarna, fingra på, snurra, vrida på, leka med, snurra (vrida) sig runt, sno runt
n. - snurrande, vridning, släng, snirkel, krumelur

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
捻弄, 旋弄, 玩弄, 摆弄, 转动

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    闲得无聊, 浪费时间

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 捻弄, 旋弄, 玩弄
v. intr. - 玩弄, 捻弄
n. - 旋弄, 玩弄, 擺弄, 轉動

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    閑得無聊, 浪費時間

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 비틀어 돌리다
v. intr. - 뱅뱅 돌다, 가지고 놀다, 진동하다
n. - 비틀어 돌림, 빙빙 돌리기

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 回転させる, いじりまわす, もてあそぶ, くるくる回る
n. - くるくる回すこと

idioms:

• twiddle one's thumbs    飽き飽きする状態

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) ينشغل بالتوافه (الاسم) يلف, يدور, يعبث باصابعه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮סובב, גלגל, עסק בקטנות‬
v. intr. - ‮הסתובב‬
n. - ‮הסתובבות, סימן עגול‬

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