# tweak

Pronunciation: say "TWEEK" US /twik/, AUS /twiːk/

## Verb

1. To make small adjustments to something so that it works or looks just right. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To change something a little bit to make it better.
   - _Designers tweak the layout after each round of user testing._
   - _The engineers tweaked the software to squeeze out a little more battery life._
3. To pinch and pull something with a sudden jerk and twist.
   - Simple: To quickly pinch and twist something, like someone's nose or ear.
   - _The clown leaned down and tweaked the boy's nose, and the whole audience laughed._
   - _Relatives who tweak children's cheeks at family gatherings rarely realize how much it stings._
5. To behave in an extremely nervous, excitable, compulsive, or erratic way, or evasively when facing authorities, from methamphetamine abuse or as if from it. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: To act very nervous, jumpy, and wild because of a drug called meth, or as if on it.
   - _Witnesses said the suspect was tweaking, pacing the parking lot and scratching at his arms._
   - _Whenever the manager walks in, Kyle seems to tweak, fidgeting and dodging every question._
6. To tease or annoy someone; to get under their skin, usually to irritate them but sometimes to charm or frighten them instead.
   - Simple: To tease or bother someone, usually to annoy them, but sometimes to please or scare them.
   - _The columnist enjoys tweaking her critics with sly references to their old mistakes._
   - _A good horror score knows how to tweak an audience, raising goosebumps with a single note._
7. To abuse the drug methamphetamine, especially in the form of crystal meth. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: To take the drug meth in a harmful way.
   - _Once he began to tweak, he stopped showing up for work._
   - _She spent most of her twenties tweaking in a run-down motel outside Phoenix._
8. To be extremely confused, with no idea of what is actually going on. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To be very confused and not understand what is going on.
   - _Either I'm tweaking or that car just drove past us twice._
   - _Anyone who thinks the sequel beat the original is tweaking._

## Noun

2. A slight adjustment or modification to something, such as a design, a plan, or a setting.
   - Simple: A small change that someone makes to something.
   - _The new model is mostly unchanged, with a few cosmetic tweaks to the grille and headlights._
   - _A simple tweak to the checkout page doubled the number of completed orders._
4. A sharp pinch or jerk, or a quick twist or twitch.
   - Simple: A quick, hard pinch or twist, like one on someone's nose.
   - _He greeted the toddler with a gentle tweak of the nose._
   - _Two sharp tweaks on his sleeve told him his daughter wanted to leave._
9. The drug methamphetamine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A drug also called meth or methamphetamine.
   - _The town has struggled with tweak ever since a lab opened in an abandoned farmhouse._
   - _Detectives seized several bags of tweak during the raid._
10. An extra input to a block cipher that works together with the key to determine which permutation the cipher computes.
   - Simple: An extra value used with a secret key to decide exactly how a code scrambles data.
   - _The disk encryption scheme uses each sector's number as the tweak._
   - _Changing the tweak produces a completely different ciphertext, even under the same key._

## Noun

11. A prostitute, someone who is paid for sex. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who is paid to have sex.

## Other meanings

- (verb) From a catapult, to strike a target with a missile.
- (noun) Trouble; distress; tweag.

## Origin

From Middle English twikken, from Old English twiccian ("to pluck"), from Proto-West Germanic *twekkōn ("to fasten; clamp; pinch"); it is related to twitch. The drug-related sense may be a blend of twitch and freak.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tweak (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).