fiddle

[fid-l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fiddle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a musical instrument of the viol family.

violin: Her aunt plays first fiddle with the state symphony orchestra.

Nautical. a small ledge or barrier raised in heavy weather to keep dishes, pots, utensils, etc., from sliding off tables and stoves.

British Informal. swindle; fraud.

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

to play on the fiddle.

to make trifling or fussing movements with the hands (often followed by with): fiddling with his cuffs.

to touch or manipulate something, as to operate or adjust it; tinker (often followed by with): You may have to fiddle with the antenna to get a clear picture on the TV.

to waste time; trifle; dally (often followed by around): Stop fiddling around and get to work.

British Informal. to cheat.

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

to play (a tune) on a fiddle.

to trifle or waste (usually used with away): to fiddle time away.

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

British Informal.

to falsify: to fiddle the account books.
to cheat: to fiddle the company out of expense money.

Idioms

fine as a fiddle, South Midland and Southern U.S. fiddle(def 15).

fit as a fiddle, in perfect health; very fit: The doctor told him he was fit as a fiddle.Also as fit as a fiddle.

play second fiddle. second fiddle.

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, viola¹), perhaps derivative of Latin vītulārī to rejoice

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

Related Words for fiddle

fool, fidget, interfere, trifle, play, toy, handle, monkey, feel, tamper, putter, dabble, mess, finger, twiddle, doodle, touch, puddle, potter

Examples from the Web for fiddle

Contemporary Examples of fiddle

On Wall Street, Bank of America plays a perpetual second fiddle to JPMorgan Chase Co., the only U.S. bank that holds more assets.
Megabanks Have The Federal Prison System Locked Up
Center for Public Integrity
October 2, 2014
"He looked at it and he started to fiddle with the cable," Mrs. Perez told The Telegraph.
Harry Dances With Chilean Children
Tom Sykes
June 29, 2014
Willie Polk played the fiddle and another boy, call him Shoefus, played the guitar, like I did.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis
Stanley Booth
June 7, 2014
There the lingua franca is Cajun French, and folks love to fiddle, dance and most of all, eat.
The U.S. Road Trips You Should Really Take
Lonely Planet
April 26, 2014
When bourbon went corporate, tradition and quality had begun to play second fiddle to the primacy of profit.
Hillbilly Heaven: The History of Small-Batch Bourbon
Dane Huckelbridge
March 29, 2014

Historical Examples of fiddle

Why, inside two weeks he'll be fit as a fiddle, and inside a month he'll be his own self!
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
For he had been painfully conscious now and then that he played but second fiddle.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
So the lad seated himself, and placed his fiddle in position.
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
I know how to play 'Little lambkins, come down,' if I only had a fiddle.
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
And the teacher opened the door, and took his fiddle from its place on the wall.
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri

British Dictionary definitions for fiddle

fiddle

noun

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

a violin played as a folk instrument

time-wasting or trifling behaviour; nonsense; triviality

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

British informal an illegal or fraudulent transaction or arrangement

British informal a manually delicate or tricky operation

at the fiddle or on the fiddle informal engaged in an illegal or fraudulent undertaking

face as long as a fiddle informal a dismal or gloomy facial expression

fit as a fiddle informal in very good health

play second fiddle informal to be subordinate; play a minor part

verb

to play (a tune) on the fiddle

(intr often foll by with) to make restless or aimless movements with the hands

(when intr, often foll by about or around) informal to spend (time) or act in a careless or inconsequential manner; waste (time)

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

informal to contrive to do (something) by illicit means or deceptionhe fiddled his way into a position of trust

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

Word Origin for fiddle

Old English fithele, probably from Medieval Latin vītula, from Latin vītulārī to celebrate; compare Old High German fidula fiddle; see viola 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 fiddle

late 14c., fedele, earlier fithele, from Old English fiðele, which is related to Old Norse fiðla, Middle Dutch vedele, Dutch vedel, Old High German fidula, German Fiedel; all of uncertain origin.

Perhaps from Medieval Latin vitula "stringed instrument," which is perhaps related to Latin vitularia "celebrate joyfully," from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy and victory, who probably, like her name, originated among the Sabines [Klein, Barnhart]. Unless the Medieval Latin word is from the Germanic ones.

Fiddle has been relegated to colloquial usage by its more proper cousin, violin, a process encouraged by phraseology such as fiddlesticks, contemptuous nonsense word fiddlededee (1784), and fiddle-faddle. Fit as a fiddle is from 1610s.

late 14c., from fiddle (n.); the figurative sense of "to act nervously or idly" is from 1520s. Related: Fiddled; fiddling.

fiddle in Culture

fiddle

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

Idioms and Phrases with fiddle

fiddle

In addition to the idiom beginning with fiddle

fiddle while Rome burns

also see:

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