0 to move something repeatedly between your fingers, especially without any purpose:
2 to move something about between your fingers without giving it your attention:
A free-standing commission would involve short bursts of hectic activity and long periods of the twiddling of thumbs.
He said that doctors were twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the necessary beds to be made available.
Today one stands still and twiddles the hoop round oneself.
We should not have a standstill in the sense that everyone is twiddling his thumbs for months and months.
There is an immense problem facing this country, and it cannot be dealt with by twiddling and footling around with the subsidy or by legislation of this kind.
You can hardly expect him to sit at home twiddling his thumbs when he can be with his friends fighting for his cause in picketing power stations and the like.
When no one comes to his counter or to his repair shop, he does not sit idly by and say that twiddling one's thumbs is very good for one's character.
He was also fond of drawing hands with interlocked fingers, which looked as though the characters were twiddling their thumbs.
中文繁体
(尤指無聊地反覆用手指)擺弄,撚弄,旋弄, 擺弄,撚弄, 旋動,扭動…
More中文简体
(尤指无聊地反复用手指)摆弄,捻弄,旋弄, 摆弄,捻弄, 旋动,扭动…
MoreEspañol
manosear, girar, (hacer) girar…
MorePortuguês
girar…
More日本語
~をくるくる回す, ~を指でいじる…
MoreTürk dili
sıkıntıdan parmaklarıyla oynamak, döndürmek, bir şeyle oynamak…
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tripoter…
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toquejar, girar…
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