FIDDLE

violin, fiddle

(noun) 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 bow

tinker, fiddle

(verb) 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”

toy, fiddle, diddle, play

(verb) 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”

fiddle

(verb) play on a violin; “Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely”

fiddle

(verb) play the violin or fiddle

fiddle

(verb) commit fraud and steal from one’s employer; “We found out that she had been fiddling for years”

fiddle, shirk, shrink from, goldbrick

(verb) avoid (one’s assigned duties); “The derelict soldier shirked his duties”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

fiddle (plural fiddles)

(music) Any of various bowed string instruments, often a violin when played in any of various traditional styles, as opposed to classical violin.

Synonym: violin

A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with leaves shaped like the musical instrument.

An adjustment intended to cover up a basic flaw.

A fraud; a scam.

(nautical) On board a ship or boat, a rail or batten around the edge of a table or stove to prevent objects falling off at sea. (Also fiddle rail)

Verb

fiddle (third-person singular simple present fiddles, present participle fiddling, simple past and past participle fiddled)

To play aimlessly.

(transitive) To adjust or manipulate for deception or fraud.

(music) To play traditional tunes on a violin in a non-classical style.

To touch or fidget with something in a restless or nervous way, or tinker with something in an attempt to make minor adjustments or improvements.

Synonyms

• (to adjust in order to cover a basic flaw): fudge

Source: Wiktionary


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

1. (Mus.)

Definition: A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.

2. (Bot.)

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

3. (Naut.)

Definition: 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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.]

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.

Fid"dle, v. t.

Definition: To play (a tune) on a fiddle.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

20 June 2024

INSIGNIFICANTLY

(adverb) not to a significant degree or amount; “our budget will only be insignificantly affected by these new cuts”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest collection of coffee pots belongs to Robert Dahl (Germany) and consists of 27,390 coffee pots as of 2 November 2012, in Rövershagen, Germany.

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