fidget

[fij-it] /ˈfɪdʒ ɪt/
verb (used without object)
1.
to move about restlessly, nervously, or impatiently.
verb (used with object)
2.
to cause to fidget; make uneasy.
noun
3.
Often, fidgets. the condition or an instance of being nervously restless, uneasy, or impatient.
4.
Also, fidgeter. a person who fidgets.
Origin
1665-75; compare dial. fidge to fidget, akin to the synonymous expressive words fitch, fig, fike; compare Old Norse fīkjast to be eager, Old Swedish fīkja to be restless
Related forms
fidgetingly, adverb
unfidgeting, adjective
Examples from the web for fidget
  • Senses wandering, the sick would chatter and fidget restlessly, plucking at their bedclothes.
  • If you're not meeting them, then by all means, fidget.
  • They can help you learn not to fidget and explain that you need to floss before going on camera.
  • Teals and shovelers fidget in their showiest plumage.
  • Imaginative people fidget with ideas, including the idea of a relationship.
  • They fidget and check the time, trying as best they can to hide their desire to be the first inside.
  • The hair pulling has since stopped, but she continues to fidget with her brown locks.
  • And children sometimes fidget at concerts because they really are involved with the music.
  • It was becoming a fidget with him: to keep both hands on the gun while he rolled his left wrist inward till the watch showed.
  • Whenever he noticed me looking at him he would fidget or check his watch.
British Dictionary definitions for fidget

fidget

/ˈfɪdʒɪt/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to move about restlessly
2.
(intransitive) often foll by with. to make restless or uneasy movements (with something); fiddle: he fidgeted with his pen
3.
(transitive) to cause to fidget
4.
(transitive) to cause to worry; make uneasy
noun
5.
(often pl) a state of restlessness or unease, esp as expressed in continual motion: he's got the fidgets
6.
a person who fidgets
Derived Forms
fidgetingly, adverb
fidgety, adjective
Word Origin
C17: from earlier fidge, probably from Old Norse fīkjast to desire eagerly
Word Origin and History for fidget
n.

1670s, as the fidget "uneasiness," later the fidgets, from a 16c. verb fidge "move restlessly," perhaps from Middle English fiken "to fidget, hasten," from Old Norse fikjask "to desire eagerly" (cf. German ficken "to move about briskly;" see fuck).

v.

1670s (implied in fidgetting); see fidget (n.). Related: Fidgeted.