diddle

[did-l]

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verb (used with object), did·dled, did·dling.

Informal. to cheat; swindle; hoax.

Origin of diddle

First recorded in 1800–10; perhaps special use of diddle²

Related formsdid·dler, noun

diddle

[did-l]

verb (used without object), did·dled, did·dling.

Informal. to toy; fool (usually followed by with): The kids have been diddling with the controls on the television set again.

to waste time; dawdle (often followed by around): You would be finished by now if you hadn't spent the morning diddling around.

Informal. to move back and forth with short rapid motions.

verb (used with object), did·dled, did·dling.

Informal. to move back and forth with short rapid motions; jiggle: Diddle the switch and see if the light comes on.

Slang.

to copulate with.
to practice masturbation upon.

Origin of diddle

1800–10; expressive coinage, perhaps orig. in the Siamese twins diddle-diddle, diddle-daddle; cf. dodder¹, doodle¹

Related formsdid·dler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for diddle

cheat, gyp, dawdle, jiggle, swindle

Examples from the Web for diddle

Contemporary Examples of diddle

The only reason to have a separate vote is to diddle the White House around.
Will the House GOP Stop the War on ISIS?
Michael Tomasky
September 12, 2014
Doctors understand this: When we diddle, our power is not consolidated, but completely lost.
Scott DesJarlais Crossed the Line by Having Sex With Patients
Kent Sepkowitz
November 29, 2012

Historical Examples of diddle

Since still they make ballads that worse and worseSavor of diddle and hey-de-dee.
The Book of Humorous Verse
Various
The origin of the diddle is referrable to the infancy of the Human Race.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
I reason a priori, and a diddle would be no diddle without a grin.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
We all wondered what this could be, for we knew it was not there when Diddle went up.
Old Wonder-Eyes
L. K. Lippincott
He there states that Pancakes and “Diddle, diddle dumplings O!”
The Cries of London
John Thomas Smith

British Dictionary definitions for diddle

diddle

verb informal

(tr) to cheat or swindle

(intr) an obsolete word for dawdle

Derived Formsdiddler, noun

Word Origin for diddle

C19: back formation from Jeremy Diddler, a scrounger in J. Kenney's farce Raising the Wind (1803)

diddle

verb

dialect to jerk (an object) up and down or back and forth; shake rapidly

Word Origin for diddle

C17: probably variant of doderen to tremble, totter; see dodder 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for diddle

"to cheat, swindle," 1806, from dialectal duddle, diddle "to totter" (1630s). Meaning "waste time" is recorded from 1825. Meaning "to have sex with" is from 1879; that of "to masturbate" (especially of women) is from 1950s. More or less unrelated meanings that have gathered around a suggestive sound. Related: Diddled; diddling.