fiddle definition | Dictionary.com

fid⋅dle

[fid-l]

noun, verb, -dled, -dling.

–noun

1.	a musical instrument of the viol family.

2.	violin: Her aunt plays first fiddle with the state symphony orchestra.

3.	Nautical. a small ledge or barrier raised in heavy weather to keep dishes, pots, utensils, etc., from sliding off tables and stoves.

4.	British Informal. swindle; fraud.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to play on the fiddle.

6.	to make trifling or fussing movements with the hands (often fol. by with): fiddling with his cuffs.

7.	to touch or manipulate something, as to operate or adjust it; tinker (often fol. by with): You may have to fiddle with the antenna to get a clear picture on the TV.

8.	to waste time; trifle; dally (often fol. by around): Stop fiddling around and get to work.

9.	British Informal. to cheat.

–verb (used with object)

10.	to play (a tune) on a fiddle.

11.	to trifle or waste (usually used with away): to fiddle time away.

12.	Bookbinding. to bind together (sections or leaves of a book) by threading a cord through holes cut lengthwise into the back.

13.

British Informal.

a.	to falsify: to fiddle the account books.

b.	to cheat: to fiddle the company out of expense money.

—Idioms

14.	fine as a fiddle, South Midland and Southern U.S. fiddle (def. 15).

15.	fit as a fiddle, in perfect health; very fit: The doctor told him he was fit as a fiddle. Also, as fit as a fiddle.

16.	play second fiddle. second fiddle.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE fithele (c. G Fiedel, D vedel, OHG fidula) prob. < VL *vītula (cf. viol, viola ¹ ), perh. deriv. of L vītulārī to rejoice

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fid·dle (fĭd'l)

1. A violin.
2. A member of the violin family.
Nautical A guardrail used on a table during rough weather to prevent things from slipping off.
Informal Nonsensical, trifling matters: "There are things that are important/beyond all this fiddle" (Marianne Moore).
The act or an instance of cheating or swindling; a fraud.

v. fid·dled, fid·dling, fid·dles

v. intr.

To play a violin.
1. To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous fashion.
2. To occupy oneself in an aimless or desultory way: liked to fiddle with all the knobs and dials.
3. To meddle or tamper: a reporter who fiddled with the facts.
To commit a fraud, especially to steal from one's employer.

v. tr.

To play (a tune) on a violin.
To cheat or swindle.
To alter or falsify (accounts, for example) for dishonest gain.

Phrasal Verb(s):
fiddle awayTo waste or squander: fiddled away the morning with unnecessary tasks.

[Middle English fidle, from Old English fithele.]
fid'dler n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fiddle

Fid"dle\, n. [OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fi?ele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fi?la, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. Viol.]

1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.

2. (Bot.) A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; -- called also fiddle dock.

3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Fiddle beetle (Zo["o]l.), a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides); -- so called from the form of the body.

Fiddle block (Naut.), 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.

Fiddle bow, fiddlestick.

Fiddle fish (Zo["o]l.), the angel fish.

Fiddle head, an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the volute or scroll at the head of a violin.

Fiddle pattern, a form of the handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin.

Scotch fiddle, the itch. (Low)

To play first, or second, fiddle, to take a leading or a subordinate part. [Colloq.]

Fiddle

Fid"dle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fiddled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fiddling.]

1. To play on a fiddle.

Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. --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.

Fiddle

Fid"dle\, v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle.

Language Translation for : fiddle

Spanish: violín,

German: die Geige,

Japanese: バイオリン

More Translations »

fiddle

Another name for the violin; fiddle is the more common term for the instrument as played in folk music and bluegrass.

fiddle (n.)

O.E. fiðele, related to O.N. fiðla, M.Du. vedele, Ger. Fiedel, all probably from M.L. vitula "stringed instrument," perhaps related to L. vitularia "celebrate joyfully," from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy and victory, who probably, like her name, originated among the Sabines. The verb is from 1377; the fig. sense of "to act idly" is from 1530. The word has been relegated to colloquial usage by its more proper cousin, violin (q.v.), a process encouraged by phraseology such as fiddlestick (15c., originally "the bow of a fiddle;" meaning "nonsense" is from 1621) and fiddle-faddle (1577), which is unrelated, being a reduplication of obsolete faddle "to trifle." Fiddler's Green first recorded 1825, from sailors' slang. Fiddler crab is from 1714. Fiddle-head "one with a head as hollow as a fiddle" is from 1887. Fit as a fiddle is from 1616.

fiddle

In addition to the idiom beginning with fiddle, also see fit as a fiddle; hang up (one's fiddle); play second fiddle.

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