fiddle
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bowSynonyms: violinType of bowed stringed instrument, stringKinds Stradavarius, Guarnerius, AmatiParts chin rest, fiddlestick
Verb (7)fiddled, fiddling
- avoid (one's assigned duties)“The derelict soldier shirked his duties”Synonyms: shirkshrink fromgoldbrickMore general avoidMore specific malinger, slack, scrimshank
- commit fraud and steal from one's employer“We found out that she had been fiddling for years”More general embezzle, defalcate
- play the violin or fiddleMore general play
- play on a violin“Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely”More general play, spiel
- manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination“She played nervously with her wedding ring”“Don't fiddle with the screws”“He played with the idea of running for the Senate”Synonyms: toydiddleplayMore general manipulateMore specific put out, retire
- play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly“Someone tampered with the documents on my desk”“the reporter fiddled with the facts”Synonyms: tampermonkeyMore general manipulate
- try to fix or mend“Can you tinker with the T.V. set — it's not working right”“She always fiddles with her van on the weekend”Synonyms: tinker
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fiðele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fiðla, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. Viol.
1. Music A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.
2. Botany A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; — called also fiddle dock.
3. Nautical A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. Phila. 1881. Hamersly's Naval Encyclopaedia
Fiddle beetle Zoology, a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides); — so called from the form of the body. — Fiddle block Nautical, a long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block. Knight, Edward Henry — Fiddle bow, fiddlestick. — Fiddle fish Zoology, the angel fish. — Fiddle head, See fiddle head in the vocabulary. — Fiddle pattern, a form of the handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin. — Scotch fiddle, the itch. (informal) — To play first fiddle, or To play second fiddle, to take a leading or a subordinate part. colloquial
1. To play on a fiddle.
Themistocles... said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon
2. To keep the hands and fingers actively moving as a fiddler does; to move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy idleness; to trifle.
Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers.— Pepys.
To play (a tune) on a fiddle.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54
The Devil's Dictionary
To Rome said Nero: "If to smoke you turn I shall not cease to fiddle while you burn." To Nero Rome replied: "Pray do your worst, 'Tis my excuse that you were fiddling first." Orm Pludge