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

“What are the rest of us supposed to do? Just twiddle our thumbs and send players and capital over to Europe?” said Montagliani, a Canadian.

From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 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

It twiddles along for a minute through the air and lands on the brown ottoman, which enrages my mother because it didn’t fall fast enough or land hard enough.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

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

Attempting to locate one of the rarest animals on the planet, US government scientist Joe Madison pointed an antiquated VHF tracking antenna at a tangle of thick vegetation and twiddled some dials on the receiver.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 7, 2019

Ever since Singapore, Kim’s negotiators—many of whom have been at their jobs since the arms talks with the Clinton administration, a quarter-century ago—have pretty much twiddled their thumbs in their sessions with the U.S. team.

From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2018

The board and some investors seemed to have twiddled their thumbs while the wreckage piled up, possibly hoping that Charney would eventually bring back the magic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2016

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

"Now we can stay until 4pm twiddling our thumbs, without fish."

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 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

They were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of colored paper were flying in every direction like little pink kites.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling