Glossary

Twiddle

Fred twiddled the steering wheel (CS3)

"Listeners, that brings us to the end of another Potterwatch. We don't know when it will be possible for us to broadcast again, but you can be sure we shall be back. Keep twiddling those dials..." (DH22)

Definition

Twiddle means to play around with, perhaps uncertainly, and is also a synonym for fiddle or fiddly; e.g. twiddly bits can be read as fiddly bits. Twiddly usually refers to something small – often a control of some sort that can be turned or rotated; e.g., a volume control can be twiddled, a light switch cannot (unless it is a rotary dimmer). Twiddled is usually used in a technical sense, e.g., “He didn’t know why the radio wouldn’t work, so he twiddled the knobs a bit.” (contributed by Pat Gilliland)

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