tweak

[tweek] /twik/
verb (used with object)
1.
to pinch and pull with a jerk and twist:
to tweak someone's ear; to tweak someone's nose.
2.
to pull or pinch the nose of, especially gently:
He tweaked the baby on greeting.
3.
to make a minor adjustment to:
to tweak a computer program.
noun
4.
an act or instance of tweaking; a sharp, twisting pull or jerk.
Origin
1595-1605; akin to twitch
Examples from the web for tweaked
  • We've tweaked procedures to make the process even smoother and more efficient.
  • When a home hits a bridge or a guardrail or gets tweaked during spotting, damage usually occurs.
  • But if the sound he wanted wasn't readily available through his instruments, he tweaked the wires himself.
  • Operators tweaked computerized marching and hazard-avoidance routines to speed the rover across the rocky flat.
  • There may be aspects of a theory that need to be tweaked, but there can be no question about the general principles.
  • Any new system, once in place, will be continually tweaked in any case.
  • Brackets can show where you tweaked for your own purposes.
  • And that new and improved, tweaked version would probably meet the journals' requirement for no prior publication.
  • The tweaked mosquitoes have been tested in field trials, but have yet to be released on a large scale.
  • Drugs that tweaked it could well postpone cancer, diabetes and other diseases of old age.
British Dictionary definitions for tweaked

tweak

/twiːk/
verb (transitive)
1.
to twist, jerk, or pinch with a sharp or sudden movement: to tweak someone's nose
2.
(motor racing, slang) to tune (a car or engine) for peak performance
3.
(informal) to make a minor alteration
noun
4.
an instance of tweaking
5.
(informal) a minor alteration
Derived Forms
tweaky, adjective
Word Origin
Old English twiccian; related to Old High German zwecchōn; see twitch
Word Origin and History for tweaked

tweak

v.

"pinch, pluck, twist," usually to the nose, probably from Old English twiccian "to pluck," of obscure origin; perhaps related to twitch. Meaning "to make fine adjustments" is attested from 1966. Related: Tweaked; tweaking. The noun in this sense is recorded by 1989.

Slang definitions & phrases for tweaked

tweaked

adjective

Odd; crazy; flaky: Julie is tweaked; first she says she loves Doug and then she fully grovels with Bill/ ''Twin Peaks'' without the dwarves, the demons, and the tweaky humor (1980s+)


tweak

verb
  1. To adjust a computer program slightly; refine; fine-tune: Michael's code is elegant stuff, really fun to tweak (1980s+ Computer)
  2. To make minor adjustments; perfect: Is the President going to tweak emissions for seven years and then let them rip?/ He used the core of the President's plan, and from that he did some tweaking (1990s+)

[perhaps a memory of the days when a crystal was tweaked with a ''cat's whisker'' in order to tune a primitive radio receiver]