twiddle (one's) thumbs To wait idly because one cannot take action or has nothing to do at the moment. Although the phrase refers to an actual movement of the hand (in which one's fingers are interlaced and each thumb is brought over the other in succession), the phrase is usually used figuratively.
twiddle one's thumbs, to To be bored; to be idle. The habit of idly turning one’s thumbs about each other during a period of enforced inactivity gave rise to this cliché, which began life in the mid-nineteenth century. “You’d have all the world do nothing . . . but twiddle its thumbs,” wrote Douglas Jerrold ( Mrs. Caudle’s Curtain Lectures, 1846).
to spend time doing nothing He twiddled his thumbs in the waiting room before his name was called. Synonyms for twiddle one's thumbs bum, chill, dally, dawdle, dillydally, drone, footle, goof (off), hack (around), hang (around or out), hang about [ British], idle, kick around, kick back, laze, lazy, loaf, loll, lounge, veg out
See synonyms for twiddle one's thumbs on Thesaurus.com 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] QUIZ GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!
To circle one's thumbs around one another, usually with the fingers interlaced, usually done idly while waiting or bored. verb 0 0 (idiomatic) To wait or dawdle; to accomplish nothing useful or lack a useful occupation. He twiddled his thumbs for almost a week while he waited for somebody to set up his computer. verb 0 0 Advertisement
twiddles one's thumbs phrase Save Word present tense third-person singular of twiddle one's thumbs Synonyms & Antonyms of twiddles one's thumbs to spend time doing nothing He twiddled his thumbs in the waiting room before his name was called. Synonyms for twiddles one's thumbs bums, chills, dallies, dawdles, dillydallies, drones, footles,
twiddle [ˈtwɪdl] A. N → vuelta f (ligera) to give a knob a twiddle → girar un botón B. VT → dar vueltas a to twiddle one's thumbs → estar de brazos cruzados, estar mano sobre mano C. VI → dar vueltas to twiddle with sth → jugar con algo (entre los dedos)
Synonyms & Antonyms of twiddling one's thumbs to spend time doing nothing He twiddled his thumbs in the waiting room before his name was called. Synonyms for twiddling one's thumbs …
Thumb twiddling to circle one's thumbs around one another, usually with the fingers interlaced, usually done idly while waiting or bored ( idiomatic) To wait or dawdle; to accomplish nothing useful or lack a useful occupation. He twiddled his thumbs for almost a week while he waited for somebody to set up his computer. Synonyms
