tweaking

[ twee-king ]

noun

1. the act of pinching and pulling something with a jerk and twist:

   A slight tweaking of his lips and a furrowing of his brow expressed his disapproval.

2. the act of making minor adjustments to something:

   A mere tweaking of some bit of technology is not going to fix this massive problem.

3. the act of annoying, teasing, or making fun of someone:

   The movie seems like it might be an affectionate tweaking of the nerd generation.

4. Slang. the act of using methamphetamine, cocaine, or other stimulant drugs, or of behaving wildly or erratically under their influence (usually followed by out ):

   Why do people take stuff they’re "not sure of" and then complain about tweaking out—or worse, ending up in the hospital?

5. Slang. the act of behaving or causing someone to behave in a wildly excited or agitated manner (usually followed by out ); freaking out:

   What with his tweaking out over every little mistake, the boss hasn’t been anyone's hero of late.

adjective

1. making minor adjustments to something:

   I’m so happy with the sound—a huge antidote for me coming from the ever tweaking, never satisfied audiophile world.

2. Slang. behaving in a wildly excited or agitated manner, especially as an effect of using methamphetamine, cocaine, or other stimulant drugs:

   He was pacing around and bursting in and out of emotional fits like a tweaking junkie.

3. Slang. (used as an intensifier):

   What kind of a tweaking idiot would do that?

adverb

1. Slang. (used as an intensifier):

   These fudge brownies are tweaking amazing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tweaking¹

First recorded in 1610–20; tweak + -ing ¹ for the noun senses; tweak + -ing ² for the adjective and adverb senses

Example Sentences

Tweaking the flight paths of a handful of aircraft could reduce contrail warming by more than half by 2040, at a cost of less than £4 per flight.

From BBC

On the other side, Labour’s union backers are pleased with extra cash for some public services, and the tweaking of the borrowing rules so more money is available to spend on long-term projects.

From BBC

The good news is that MakeMusic seems to have been sensitive to the outrage and has been gradually tweaking things to make the transition from Finale easier.

From Slate

There have been hints here ministers are toying with tweaking the various self imposed rules they set themselves to allow perhaps a bit more scope for longer term spending.

From BBC

There are a lot of creations I’m proud of, but they’ve needed some tweaking to be enjoyed in real life settings.

From Salon

Related Words

• tease
• twist