fiddle

American  

[fid-l] / ˈfɪd l /

noun

• fiddles
  plural

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.

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verb (used without object)

• fiddles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fiddled,
  past participle,  past
• fiddling
  present participle

1. to play on the fiddle.

2. to make trifling or fussing movements with the hands (often followed bywith ).

   fiddling with his cuffs.

3. to touch or manipulate something, as to operate or adjust it; tinker (often followed bywith ).

   You may have to fiddle with the antenna to get a clear picture on the TV.

4. to waste time; trifle; dally (often followed byaround ).

   Stop fiddling around and get to work.

5. British Informal. to cheat.

verb (used with object)

• fiddles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fiddled,
  past participle,  past
• fiddling
  present participle

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

2. to trifle or waste (usually used withaway ).

   to fiddle time away.

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

4. British Informal.

   1. to falsify.

      to fiddle the account books.

   2. to cheat.

      to fiddle the company out of expense money.

idioms

1. play second fiddle. second fiddle.

2. fit as a fiddle, in perfect health; very fit: Also as fit as a fiddle.

   The doctor told him he was fit as a fiddle.

3. fine as a fiddle, fiddle.

fiddle British  

/ ˈfɪdəl /

noun

1. informal any instrument of the viol or violin family, esp the violin

2. a violin played as a folk instrument

3. time-wasting or trifling behaviour; nonsense; triviality

4. nautical a small railing around the top of a table to prevent objects from falling off it in bad weather

5. informal an illegal or fraudulent transaction or arrangement

6. informal a manually delicate or tricky operation

7. informal engaged in an illegal or fraudulent undertaking

8. informal a dismal or gloomy facial expression

9. informal in very good health

10. informal to be subordinate; play a minor part

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verb

1. to play (a tune) on the fiddle

2. to make restless or aimless movements with the hands

3. informal to spend (time) or act in a careless or inconsequential manner; waste (time)

4. informal (often foll by with) to tamper or interfere (with)

5. informal to contrive to do (something) by illicit means or deception

   he fiddled his way into a position of trust

6. informal (tr) to falsify (accounts, etc); swindle

fiddle Cultural  

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

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fiddle More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing fiddle

• fit as a fiddle
• hang up (one's fiddle)
• play second fiddle

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fiddles
  plural

Participles

• fiddling
  present
• fiddled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fiddle
  simple
• fiddles
  simple
• have fiddled
  perfect
• has fiddled
  perfect
• am fiddling
  progressive
• are fiddling
  progressive
• is fiddling
  progressive
• have been fiddling
  perfect progressive
• has been fiddling
  perfect progressive

Past

• fiddled
  simple
• had fiddled
  perfect
• was fiddling
  progressive
• were fiddling
  progressive
• had been fiddling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fiddle
  simple
• will have fiddled
  perfect
• will be fiddling
  progressive
• will have been fiddling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fiddle

before 1000; Middle English; Old English fithele (cognate with German Fiedel, Dutch vedel, Old High German fidula ) probably < Vulgar Latin *vītula ( cf. viol, viola ¹), perhaps derivative of Latin vītulārī to rejoice

Explanation

A fiddle is the same thing as a violin. The instrument, which has strings and is played with a bow, is more likely to be called a fiddle when it's used to play traditional or folk tunes, rather than classical music. Fiddle music is typically written for dancing, and it comes from backgrounds as diverse as Scotland, Eastern Europe, and the Cajun and Zydeco traditions from Louisiana. To play the fiddle is to fiddle, and when you mess or play around with something, you also fiddle: "Do you have to fiddle with your pen while I'm talking?" Someone who's "fit as a fiddle" is in perfect health.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fiddle fiddles fiddled fiddling

She said he was loved by friends, talented in music and sport, having played the fiddle, accordion and enjoyed judo, chess and sea scouts.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Anytime Dunk is walking through the village, we should hear a fiddle player playing somewhere,’” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

The company’s main generator of revenue, electric vehicles, often plays second fiddle.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

We can’t truly know the ERP unless we know what the market will return, and if we knew that, we wouldn’t have to fiddle with theoreticals about whether we’re being compensated enough.

From Barron's ● May 14, 2026

In five years, he could play the fiddle almost as well as his father, who had never taken a lesson in his life, could play the guitar.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

As Sunday night turned into Monday morning, and the strains of fiddles and flutes drifted through the city streets, people hailed the success of Belfast's first ever All-Ireland Fleadh.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

The Administration seems determined to avoid the endless fiddles that torpedoed the frigate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

Bro-country hitmaker Jason Aldean debuted in 2005 with “Hicktown,” a single that paired screaming fiddles with distortion-drenched guitars to celebrate the ways single-stoplight towns make their own fun.

From Salon ● May 16, 2025

“I just loved it. I loved the music, I loved the tempos of the mandolin and ... I loved the fiddles, too,” Williams says.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2024

As she fiddles with the iPod dock, I fiddle with the pen.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

For years, the egg has ruled the breakfast table like a sun god—worshipped, aestheticized, endlessly fiddled with by men in starched aprons and women with ring lights.

From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025

Sitting at a park picnic table in Crystal City, Virginia, the morning light casting shadows over his face, Wall fiddled with the strap on his backpack.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025

Family members and friends fiddled with the placards they wore baring the brothers’ photographs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2025

On 99, Atkinson fiddled nervously at Kumara and could have given an edge.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2024

Then at night sometimes he fiddled around with clocks as an extra work.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

Neville is skeptical that businesses will be fiddling around with AI products to create their own cybersecurity.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026

She pauses, fiddling with her red-framed reading glasses.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026

Take, for example, Parton’s great-grandmother, Tennessee, who kept her home open for “singing, fiddling, and buck dancing.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

Researchers quietly work away, fiddling with parts of the machine.

From Barron's ● Dec. 10, 2025

"We're on our way to a party," I blurted, since Doreen had gone suddenly dumb as a post and was fiddling in a blasé way with her white lace pocketbook cover.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

Related Words

• fidget
• fool
• interfere