fiddle

fiddle
noun
1》 informal a violin.
2》 informal, chiefly Brit. an act of fraud or cheating.
3》 Brit. informal an unnecessarily intricate or awkward task.
4》 Nautical a raised rim that prevents things from falling off a table in rough seas.
verb
1》 touch or fidget with something restlessly or nervously.
2》 informal, chiefly Brit. falsify (figures, data, or records).
3》 informal play the violin.
Phrases
fiddle while Rome burns be concerned with relatively trivial matters while ignoring the serious events going on around one.
(as) fit as a fiddle in very good health.
on the fiddle informal, chiefly Brit. engaged in fraud or cheating.
play second fiddle to take a subordinate role to.
Derivatives
fiddler noun (informal).
Origin
OE fithele, based on L. vitulari 'celebrate a festival'; cf. viol.

English new terms dictionary. 2014.

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  • fiddle — fid‧dle [ˈfɪdl] verb [transitive] informal to give false information about something in order to avoid paying money, or to get extra money: • It would be naive to think that staff never fiddle their expenses. • Auditors ensure that employers or… …   Financial and business terms

  • Fiddle — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda El término Fiddle, hace referencia a cualquier instrumento musical de cuerda que se hace sonar con arco, lo que incluye al violín. Se trata de un término coloquial para aquellos instrumentos utilizados por músicos en …   Wikipedia Español

  • Fiddle — Fid dle (f[i^]d d l), n. [OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fi[eth]ele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fi[eth]la, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. {Viol}.] 1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fiddle — est un mot anglais qui signifie « violon », mais avec une connotation plus populaire que violin (qui est le terme anglais usuel pour désigner un violon, en particulier un violon de musique classique). Il s agit de l instrument de celui… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • fiddle — ► NOUN 1) informal a violin. 2) informal, chiefly Brit. an act of fraud or cheating. 3) informal an unnecessarily intricate or awkward task. ► VERB informal 1) touch or fidget with something restlessly or nervously. 2) chiefly Brit. falsify… …   English terms dictionary

  • fiddle — [fid′ l] n. [ME fithele < OE < VL * vitula < L vitulari, to rejoice: vi (< IE * woi , wi , outcry > OE wi, Gr ia) + ? base of tollere, to raise, exalt] 1. Informal any stringed instrument played with a bow, esp. the violin ☆ 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • Fiddle — Fid dle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fiddled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fiddling}.] 1. To play on a fiddle. [1913 Webster] Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon. [1913 Webster] 2. To keep the hands and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fiddle — Fid dle, v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fiddle —   [englisch, fɪdl], Violine …   Universal-Lexikon

  • fiddle — англ. [фидл] Fidel, Fiedel нем. [фи/дэль] fidula лат. [фи/дула] фидель, старин. смычковый инструм …   Словарь иностранных музыкальных терминов

  • fiddle — [v] mess with, tinker dabble, doodle, feel, fidget, finger, fool, handle, interfere, mess, mess around*, monkey*, play, potter, puddle, putter, tamper, touch, toy, trifle, twiddle; concepts 87,291 …   New thesaurus

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