fidget

Etymology

From fidge (“to fidget”) + *-et (frequentative ending), possibly from Middle English *-ten, from Old English -ettan.

verb

  1. (intransitive) To wiggle or twitch; to move the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly.
    Will you stop fucking about and fidgeting in my peripherals? I'm trying to concentrate. 1993, Mike Leigh, Naked, spoken by Johnny (David Thewlis)
  2. (transitive) To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
    “Do I fidget you ?” he asked apologetically, whilst his long bony fingers buried themselves, string, knots, and all, into the capacious pockets of his magnificent tweed ulster. 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott

noun

  1. A nervous wriggling or twitching motion.
  2. (informal) A person who fidgets, especially habitually.
  3. A toy intended to be fidgeted with.

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