Twiddle

verb (used with object), twiddled, twiddling.
1.
to turn about or play with lightly or idly, especially with the fingers; twirl.
verb (used without object), twiddled, twiddling.
2.
to play or trifle idly with something; fiddle.
3.
to turn about lightly; twirl.
noun
4.
the act of twiddling; turn; twirl.
Idioms
5.
twiddle one’s thumbs, to do nothing; be idle:
Business was slack, and the salespeople were twiddling their thumbs.
verb
1.
when intr, often foll by with. to twirl or fiddle (with), often in an idle way
2.
to do nothing; be unoccupied
3.
(intransitive) to turn, twirl, or rotate
4.
(intransitive) (rare) to be occupied with trifles
noun
5.
an act or instance of twiddling
twenty-twenty hindsight

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 tweaking 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)