I. fid ‧ dle 1 /ˈfɪdl/ BrE AmE noun [countable] informal
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Medieval Latin ; Origin: vitula 'instrument played at ceremonies' ]
1 . a ↑ violin
2 . British English a dishonest way of getting money:
an insurance fiddle
on the fiddle
They suspected he was on the fiddle (=getting money dishonestly or illegally) all along.
3 . be a fiddle to be difficult to do and involve complicated movements of your hands:
This blouse is a bit of a fiddle to do up.
⇨ fit as a fiddle at ↑ fit 2 (1), ⇨ play second fiddle (to somebody) at ↑ play 1 (22)
II. fiddle 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive] to keep moving and touching something, especially because you are bored or nervous:
Stop fiddling, will you!
I sat and fiddled at the computer for a while.
fiddle with
She was at her desk in the living room, fiddling with a deck of cards.
2 . [transitive] British English informal to give false information about something, in order to avoid paying money or to get extra money:
Bert had been fiddling his income tax for years.
fiddle the books (=give false figures in a company’s financial records)
3 . [intransitive] to play a ↑ violin
fiddle around ( also fiddle about British English ) phrasal verb
to waste time doing unimportant things
fiddle around with something ( also fiddle about with something British English ) phrasal verb
1 . to move the parts of a machine in order to try to make it work or repair it:
I’ve been fiddling around with this old car for months but I still can’t get it to work.
2 . to make small unnecessary changes to something – used to show disapproval SYN mess around with :
Why did you let her fiddle about with the remote control?
The bus company is always fiddling around with the schedules.
fiddle with something phrasal verb
1 . to move part of a machine in order to make it work, without knowing exactly what you should do:
After fiddling with the tuning I finally got JFM.
2 . to move or touch something that does not belong to you, in an annoying way:
Don’t let him fiddle with my bag.