twiddle

Biden said he had tasked his entire administration with finding levers to pull and knobs to twiddle that might reduce inflation.

From Salon ● May 28, 2024

"It's July 2023. Building out the leadership of that operation today, so they can sit around and twiddle their thumbs for the next six months would be nuts," he said.

From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2023

During offseasons, she’d twiddle her thumbs, unsure of what exactly to do with herself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2022

“Don’t wear a necklace if you’re tempted to twiddle it,” advised the paper.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 19, 2020

When he heard her coming, he would lay aside his work, lean back, and twiddle his thumbs.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

For his part, Adam twiddles his own curly locks with one raised hand, seemingly in nervous anticipation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2024

Liberated from chronology and fact, the comedy-drama twiddles the timeline of Catherine’s career and marriage.

From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2021

There were still the little tricks and twiddles, particularly early on, before the game got away from him, before the little kicks and frustrations began to chip away at his joy.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2020

“We can’t afford to allow more devastation to be caused to the park while the Park Service twiddles their thumbs trying to come up with an expensive plan,” Gosar said in a statement this week.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 26, 2016

He twiddles his thumbs and takes a few measured breaths.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

You could follow the text at the bottom of the screen, but most people just twiddled their thumbs and waited.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

There was a woman in a leather hat complaining that she had been treated rudely by a county worker, a man watching while he twiddled a Rubik’s Cube.

From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2022

They all largely twiddled their thumbs as accusations mounted that much was unhealthy in the GET-THIN campaign.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2021

Give me the name of an unexpected collaborator and chances are he’s twiddled knobs in their vicinity.

From The Guardian ● May 5, 2018

When he focused on keeping his left foot still, his claws twiddled.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

“It’s not like we’re twiddling our thumbs and trying to get some money. This is a very serious condition,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2026

Meanwhile Miami, which had been ranked behind Notre Dame, and like the Irish, had been inactive and twiddling thumbs over conference championship weekend, vaulted over South Bend.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025

The court granted cert to the case on Wednesday, after twiddling its thumbs for 16 days, and it scheduled oral arguments for April 22.

From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2024

For now, I'll be twiddling my thumbs, waiting for Hollywood to come out with another Indian-American horror story soon.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2023

"We don’t really see the creator twiddling twenty knobs to set twenty parameters to create the universe as we know it."

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson