fiddle

fid|dle¹ [ˈfıdl] n informal

[Date: 1200-1300; : Medieval Latin; Origin: vitula 'instrument played at ceremonies']

1.) a ↑violin

2.) BrE 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 ↑fit² (1), play second fiddle (to sb) at ↑play¹ (22)

fiddle ²

fiddle² v

1.)

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.) [T] [i]BrE 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.)

to play a ↑violin

fiddle around [i]phr v

to waste time doing unimportant things

fiddle around with [fiddle around with sth] phr v

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

= ↑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 [fiddle with sth] phr v

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.