twiddle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Yet, Eggers was not one to sit and twiddle his thumbs.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
"I could either twiddle my thumbs or I could do something to help people and open," he said.
From Reuters ● Oct. 27, 2023
During offseasons, she’d twiddle her thumbs, unsure of what exactly to do with herself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
“You know it’s going to end. So you can’t just sit around and twiddle your thumbs.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2021
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
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
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
His moustache rode up and down like a wooly worm as he twiddled his lips, studying me.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
“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
He first became familiar with them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his release and saw people twiddling with smartphones.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 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
“Yes, while the rest of you were twiddling your thumbs, Tris climbed the Ferris wheel to look for the other team,” he says.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
