diddle
1 Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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Informal. to toy; fool (usually followed bywith ).
The kids have been diddling with the controls on the television set again.
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to waste time; dawdle (often followed byaround ).
You would be finished by now if you hadn't spent the morning diddling around.
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Informal. to move back and forth with short rapid motions.
verb (used with object)
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Informal. to move back and forth with short rapid motions; jiggle.
Diddle the switch and see if the light comes on.
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Slang.
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to copulate with.
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to practice masturbation upon.
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verb
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(tr) to cheat or swindle
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(intr) an obsolete word for dawdle
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of diddle1
First recorded in 1800–10; perhaps special use of diddle 2
Origin of diddle2
First recorded in 1800–10; of uncertain origin; perhaps from dialect diddle “to cheat, hoax” or from dialect doodle (in archaic sense) “fool”; cf. diddle 1 ( def. ), doodle 1 (in senses “to waste time; to deceive”)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Don’t forget to say “Hey, diddle, diddle” to the park’s furry occupants, which include three not-so-little Vietnamese potbellied pigs, two of Mary’s sheep, a floppy-eared Peter Rabbit and a friendly miniature donkey dubbed Eeyore.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2018
You diddle a lot of people on small amounts, you’ve got a lot of money, and until we had C.F.P.B., there was virtually no defense for people against this massive, small-bore fraud abuse.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2017
Well, I can wait no longer sit by and diddle while my fellow media figures prevaricate and whinge.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2016
Subsidies, which run into the hundreds of millions annually, not only diddle the taxpayer, they encourage overgrazing.
From Economist ● Apr. 24, 2014
Hey, diddle, diddle, the dish ran away with the spoon.
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
Kecmanovic, though, wins four points in a row ... only to be diddled by an incredible lob; deuce it is, then again when Monfils nails a blazing forehand.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2022
Since the restart, they’ve been diddled by technology at Aston Villa, and have recovered from back-to-back three-goal setbacks to pick up seven of the last nine points on offer.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 11, 2020
Drogba should have had the chance to make amends the following season, but Chelsea were diddled by some preposterous refereeing decisions in the Champions League semi against Barcelona.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2015
"We've diddled and dawdled long enough," he said, clasping his hands behind his back.
From Time Magazine Archive
Guyard the Green, who fancied himself a singer, diddled a harp and gave them a verse about tying lions' tails in knots, parts of which rhymed.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Alfred sat in his room, wheezing away on his accordion, diddling its buttons, dutifully memorizing polkas and waltzes and marches and the “Mexican Hat Dance.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2020
I suspect that she glares at her mobile day and night, texting, diddling with apps or whatever, never really off duty.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 12, 2016
EST 10:25 63 min: Firmino does brilliantly on the left, reaching a ball ahead of Smalling on the edge of the area, then diddling inside, past a couple of challenges, before teeing up Henderson.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 17, 2016
“I somehow got this reputation of diddling and dithering,” Mr. Cuomo said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2015
"I baited and set my little trap and I've caught, not only slippery Percy, but that two-faced, double-tongued, pill-gilding, thimble-rigging, gammoning, diddling Hunter!"
From A Drake by George! by Trevena, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
