twiddle

"I could either twiddle my thumbs or I could do something to help people and open," he said.

From Reuters ● Oct. 27, 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

We have no more time to twiddle our collective thumbs.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 11, 2020

Michael Connelly’s detective is never one to twiddle thumbs, of course.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2019

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

“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

Eye blinks, finger twiddles, fidgeting — there’s no detail too small for the timer to add to the exposure sheet, ensuring the team in LA maximum control over what the South Korean animation studio delivers.

From The Verge ● Oct. 25, 2015

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

One of the most stunning allegations Thursday was that while Ohtani twiddled his batting gloves, Mizuhara refused to allow anyone else on his business team to view Ohtani’s $16-million spigot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024

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

I lifted the padlock and twiddled the numbers to the ones I’d seen Hannie use.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

“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

"After coming out of Eurovision, it meant I wasn't twiddling my thumbs. I had a whole album to promote so we had to keep going".

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2023

“I have gone temporarily deaf and haven’t any idea what you said, Harry,” said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling