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twiddle one's thumbs

 - 4 dictionary results

twid⋅dle

  [twid-l] verb, -dled, -dling, noun
Use twiddle one's thumbs in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to turn about or play with lightly or idly, esp. with the fingers; twirl.
–verb (used without object)
2. to play or trifle idly with something; fiddle.
3. to turn about lightly; twirl.
–noun
4. the act of twiddling; turn; twirl.
—Idiom
5. twiddle one's thumbs, to do nothing; be idle: Business was slack, and the salespeople were twiddling their thumbs.
Origin:
1530–40; perh. b. twitch and fiddle

Related forms:
twiddler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
twiddle (one's) thumbs

  1. tv.
    to do nothing; to wait nervously, playing with one's fingers. : I sat twiddling my thumbs while you were out doing I don't know what all!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

twiddle 
c.1540, "to trifle," of unknown origin; of the fingers, first recorded 1676. Fig. phrase twiddle one's thumbs "have nothing to do" is recorded from 1846; to twirl one's thumbs in the same sense is recorded from 1816.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

twiddle one's thumbs

Be bored or idle, as in There I sat for three hours, twiddling my thumbs, while he made call after call. This expression alludes to the habit of idly turning one's thumbs about one another during a period of inactivity. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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