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

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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

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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

It isn’t all that unusual for players to fiddle with their mechanics over the course of a summer, with more drastic overhauls left to offseason experimentation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Certainly the music played a big part, the children busking on every spare square of pavement, a joyful cacophony of tin whistle, fiddle, bodhrán.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 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

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 the presence of such nobility, I lowered the fiddle and bow, and fixed my eyes upon the ground.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

The problem was that his series of tweaks and fiddles had turned his team into a barely coherent collection of walking wounded and players lined up out of position.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

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

At Stagecoach, Disco Shark is replaced with Disco Horse, and there are still pulsing beats but also some fiddles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2024

As he told Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” in 1998, “it was fascinating what these guys could do with these banjos and these fiddles and the steel guitars.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024

It sounded like the infernal spawn of a Persian drum beat and a dozen Celtic fiddles.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

It was one of more than 20 locations where he abused his position as party boss, spent more than £400,000 of SNP cash and fiddled the books afterwards.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

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

Gaunt and weakened by cancer at 42, his father reached for the buttons on Kerr’s shirt, fiddled with them and said something about getting ready to catch the plane to their cabin in the woods.

From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2024

He fiddled with a stack of papers while waiting for reporters in the room to quiet down and then, with self-assured gravitas, announced a detailed plan for legislation that would provide reparations for Black Californians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

As she fiddled with the enlarger, Fadi carried the photo paper over to the “wet” area of the darkroom.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

The jubilant rush—“woo hoo,” as she puts it—of music-making is typically followed by a period of obsessive fiddling with production and mixes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

So rather than address the fundamentals behind higher yields, Bessent has turned to fiddling with the bond market itself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 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

Megan stood there, saying nothing, fiddling with the bottles.

From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies

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Related Words

• fidget
• fool
• interfere

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