From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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 fingers actively moving as a fiddler
does; to move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy
idleness; to trifle.
[1913 Webster]
Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers.
--Pepys.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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 Webster]
2. (Bot.) A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped
leaves; -- called also fiddle dock.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to
keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad
weather. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
[1913 Webster]
Fiddle beetle (Zool.), a Japanese carabid beetle ({Damaster
blaptoides}); -- so called from the form of the body.
Fiddle block (Naut.), a long tackle block having two
sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead
of side by side as in a common double block. --Knight.
Fiddle bow, fiddlestick.
Fiddle fish (Zool.), the angel fish.
Fiddle head, See fiddle head in the vocabulary.
Fiddle pattern, a form of the handles of spoons, forks,
etc., somewhat like a violin.
Scotch fiddle, the itch. (Low)
To play first fiddle, or To play second fiddle, to take a
leading or a subordinate part. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Fiddle \Fid"dle\, v. t.
To play (a tune) on a fiddle.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
fiddle
n 1: bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the
violin family; this instrument has four strings and a
hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with
a bow [syn: violin, fiddle]
v 1: avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier
shirked his duties" [syn: fiddle, shirk, shrink from,
goldbrick]
2: commit fraud and steal from one's employer; "We found out
that she had been fiddling for years"
3: play the violin or fiddle
4: play on a violin; "Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely"
5: manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination; "She
played nervously with her wedding ring"; "Don't fiddle with
the screws"; "He played with the idea of running for the
Senate" [syn: toy, fiddle, diddle, play]
6: play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or
dishonestly; "Someone tampered with the documents on my
desk"; "The reporter fiddle with the facts" [syn: tamper,
fiddle, monkey]
7: try to fix or mend; "Can you tinker with the T.V. set--it's
not working right"; "She always fiddles with her van on the
weekend" [syn: tinker, fiddle]