Twiddle

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Twiddle \Twid"dle\, v. t. [Probably of imitative origin. Cf.
     {Tweedle}.]
     To touch lightly, or play with; to tweedle; to twirl; as, to
     twiddle one's thumbs; to twiddle a watch key. [Written also
     twidle.] --Thackeray.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Twiddle \Twid"dle\, v. i.
     To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.
     --Halliwell.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Twiddle \Twid"dle\, n.
     1. A slight twist with the fingers.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A pimple. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  twiddle
       n : a series of small (usually idle) twists or turns
       v 1: turn in a twisting or spinning motion; "The leaves swirled
            in the autumn wind" [syn: {twirl}, {swirl}, {whirl}]
       2: manipulate, as in a nervous or unconscious manner; "He
          twiddled her thumbs while waiting for the interview" [syn:
           {fiddle with}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  66 Moby Thesaurus words for "twiddle":
     babble, cackle, chat, chatter, come in contact, coquet, dabble,
     dally, do nothing, feel, feel of, fiddle, fiddle with,
     fiddle-faddle, fidget, fidget with, finger, finger with, flick,
     flirt, fool, fool around, fool with, fribble, frivol, gab, handle,
     horse around, idle, jerk off, juggle, kid around, loiter,
     manipulate, mess around, mess with, monkey, monkey around,
     monkey with, palm, palpate, paw, piddle, play, play around,
     play with, ply, poke at, potter, prattle, prod, putter, rattle,
     smatter, tap, thumb, tinker, touch, toy, toy with, trifle, twirl,
     waste time, wield, wiggle, yak
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  twiddle n. 1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, `~'). Also called `squiggle',
     `sqiggle' (sic -- pronounced /skig'l/), and `twaddle', but twiddle is
     the most common term. 2. A small and insignificant change to a program.
     Usually fixes one bug and generates several new ones (see also {shotgun
     debugging}). 3. vt. To change something in a small way. Bits, for
     example, are often twiddled. Twiddling a switch or {knobs} implies much
     less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking it; see {frobnicate}. To
     speak of twiddling a bit connotes aimlessness, and at best doesn't
     specify what you're doing to the bit; `toggling a bit' has a more
     specific meaning (see {bit twiddling}, {toggle}). 4. Uncommon name for
     the {twirling baton} prompt.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  twiddle
       
          1.  The {tilde} character.
       
          2.  (To make) a small or insignificant change.
          E.g. twiddling a program often fixes one bug and generates
          several new ones (see also {shotgun debugging}).  Bits are
          often twiddled.  Twiddling a switch or knob implies much less
          sense of purpose than toggling or {tweak}ing it; see
          {frobnicate}.  {Bit twiddling} connotes aimlessness, and at
          best doesn't specify what you're doing to the bit; to
          "{toggle} a bit" has a more specific meaning.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1995-01-31)