fiddle - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

WordReference.com English Dictionary

fiddle:

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fiddle/ˈfɪdl/

▶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.

'fiddle' also found in these Oxford entries:

bull fiddle - dicker - fad - fiddle-back - fiddle-de-dee - fiddle-faddle - fiddle pattern - footer - twiddle - worry

Forum discussions with the word(s) "fiddle" in the title:

All a bit of a fiddle
Brain like a fiddle
Fiddle (adj)
fiddle-laced
fidle [fiddle] around the edges
good/fine as a fiddle
like a cat holding a fiddle
play a good fiddle
they're all on the fiddle
to fiddle with different ideas
to get as fit as a fiddle from her cold
what does this adage mean"Hang up one's fiddle when one comes home."

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