twiddle one's thumbs
twiddle one's thumbs verb: to circle one's thumbs around one another, usually with the fingers interlaced, usually done idly while waiting or bored.
Verb
twiddle one's thumbs (third-person singular simple present twiddles one's thumbs, present participle twiddling one's thumbs, simple past and past participle twiddled one's thumbs)
- to circle one's thumbs around one another, usually with the fingers interlaced, usually done idly while waiting or bored
- Synonyms:
- hold one's horses, lallygag, loaf about
- 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:
- sit on one's hands, bide one's time, fool around
Synonyms of twiddle one's thumbs
Forms of twiddle one's thumbs
| third-person singular present | twiddles one's thumbs |
|---|---|
| present participle | twiddling one's thumbs |
| past participle | twiddled one's thumbs |
| past | twiddled one's thumbs |
Questions about twiddle one's thumbs
- What does twiddle one's thumbs mean?
- Twiddle one's thumbs means to circle one's thumbs around one another, usually with the fingers interlaced, usually done idly while waiting or bored.
- What part of speech is twiddle one's thumbs?
- Twiddle one's thumbs is a verb.
- What is the past tense of twiddle one's thumbs?
- The past tense of twiddle one's thumbs is twiddled one's thumbs.
Words near twiddle one's thumbs in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: twiddle one's thumbs (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-twiddle one's thumbs.ogg.
Cite this entry: “twiddle one's thumbs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/twiddle_one%27s_thumbs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.