1
as in twitching
to grasp and move with a small forceful motion
Hey, you tweaked my nose!
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2
as in adjusting
to make small adjustments to
You can tweak the settings to customize the display. He spent considerable time tweaking the recipe.
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3
as in mocking
to make (someone or something) the object of criticism, amusement, or laughter
They're always tweaking me about my northern accent.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tweaking
Knowing exactly where hydrogen is coming from inside cattle could help develop new ways of tamping down their methane-heavy burps, Xiong says, including by tweaking how the hydrogenobody itself works.
—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026
With Stanton tweaking his calf on Friday and not playing on Saturday and Sunday in Houston, word of Domínguez’s call-up broke Sunday night.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
Traditional fixes—like tweaking the system’s parameters—don’t work because the dark modes remain fundamentally disconnected.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 26 Apr. 2026
But by tweaking this archetype again and again, Chan transforms a cheap gimmick into a complex ecosystem of life-forms.
—Dawn Chan, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
In 2018, Target provoked the ire of New York music lovers by tweaking CBGB’s famous awning to celebrate the opening of a new retail location in Astor Place.
—Spin Staff, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2026
Anil Jain, global managing director at Google Cloud, said that these tools can do both simple functions like tweaking a scene’s background, or achieve more complex tasks, like creating promotional material.
—Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2026
After slightly tweaking its language, the council’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee approved sending the ordinance to the full council for a final vote on Thursday.
—Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 14 Apr. 2026
The airline is also tweaking its basic economy policy.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026
With Stanton tweaking his calf on Friday and not playing on Saturday and Sunday in Houston, word of Domínguez’s call-up broke Sunday night.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
Traditional fixes—like tweaking the system’s parameters—don’t work because the dark modes remain fundamentally disconnected.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 26 Apr. 2026
But by tweaking this archetype again and again, Chan transforms a cheap gimmick into a complex ecosystem of life-forms.
—Dawn Chan, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
In 2018, Target provoked the ire of New York music lovers by tweaking CBGB’s famous awning to celebrate the opening of a new retail location in Astor Place.
—Spin Staff, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2026
Anil Jain, global managing director at Google Cloud, said that these tools can do both simple functions like tweaking a scene’s background, or achieve more complex tasks, like creating promotional material.
—Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2026
After slightly tweaking its language, the council’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee approved sending the ordinance to the full council for a final vote on Thursday.
—Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 14 Apr. 2026
The airline is also tweaking its basic economy policy.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tweaking
Verb
-
Curry’s body began convulsing and twitching with increasing severity, consistent with him sustaining a traumatic brain injury from being punched in the face, documents state.—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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Afternoon Ben Thanh Market is Hồ Chí Minh’s biggest market – a vast maze of 1,500 stalls selling everything from still-twitching fish to electronics and souvenirs.—
Tamara Hinson,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Start the conversation, make your point clearly, and let the response shape what happens next instead of adjusting midstream.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
28 Apr. 2026
-
In the clinical trials, most of these problems have been managed by adjusting the dose or adding supportive medications.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Punk then resorted to mocking Reigns.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
20 Apr. 2026
-
In non-CinemaCon news, the looksmaxx influencer managed to unite the internets in mocking his dew-eyed meltdown and interview walk-off over being asked modestly difficult questions about his reputation (instead of being asked, say, which moisturizer is best for post-jaw hammering).—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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First, a mathematical operation known as the Schur pinching channel reorganizes the system into a simpler, diagonal form—something closer to classical data that is easier to handle.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Apr. 2026
-
The spandex-blend material is ultra-stretchy, and there’s no unpleasant digging or pinching courtesy of the zipper- and button-free design.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Letters are subject to editing for clarity and length.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Sophie Todd is series editing with Emily Hirst producing.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Morgan Rogers fired wide from the ensuing chance, yet the sweeping move — teasing passes before going through the gears as play progressed upfield — was what Villa often desire, but can sometime lack.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
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The footage, revealed on April 22, adopts a dark and scary tone, teasing a body horror film that will be a total departure from anything fans have seen from the DC Universe so far.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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On Thursday night, after shaking off a deal that was short-circuited by another team, the Ravens would make a pick (Penn State guard Vega Ioane) that symbolically spoke to the franchise’s core values.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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Backstage, everyone was crying and shaking, Pearlman says.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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That second explanation, known as dark matter, was initially favored because the addition of that one ingredient could explain all of the observed physical phenomena on a variety of scales, while modifying gravity required different modifications to align with different scales.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
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Redevelopment means modifying the former Sears building to align with Dick’s House of Sports in-store features.—
Emma Hall,
Sacbee.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tweaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tweaking. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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