fiddle
Americannoun
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a musical instrument of the viol family.
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violin.
Her aunt plays first fiddle with the state symphony orchestra.
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Nautical. a small ledge or barrier raised in heavy weather to keep dishes, pots, utensils, etc., from sliding off tables and stoves.
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British Informal. swindle; fraud.
verb (used without object)
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to play on the fiddle.
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to make trifling or fussing movements with the hands (often followed bywith ).
fiddling with his cuffs.
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to touch or manipulate something, as to operate or adjust it; tinker (often followed bywith ).
You may have to fiddle with the antenna to get a clear picture on the TV.
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to waste time; trifle; dally (often followed byaround ).
Stop fiddling around and get to work.
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British Informal. to cheat.
verb (used with object)
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to play (a tune) on a fiddle.
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to trifle or waste (usually used withaway ).
to fiddle time away.
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Bookbinding. to bind together (sections or leaves of a book) by threading a cord through holes cut lengthwise into the back.
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British Informal.
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to falsify.
to fiddle the account books.
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to cheat.
to fiddle the company out of expense money.
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idioms
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play second fiddle. second fiddle.
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fit as a fiddle, in perfect health; very fit: Also as fit as a fiddle.
The doctor told him he was fit as a fiddle.
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fine as a fiddle, fiddle.
noun
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informal any instrument of the viol or violin family, esp the violin
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a violin played as a folk instrument
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time-wasting or trifling behaviour; nonsense; triviality
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nautical a small railing around the top of a table to prevent objects from falling off it in bad weather
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informal an illegal or fraudulent transaction or arrangement
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informal a manually delicate or tricky operation
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informal engaged in an illegal or fraudulent undertaking
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informal a dismal or gloomy facial expression
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informal in very good health
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informal to be subordinate; play a minor part
verb
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to play (a tune) on the fiddle
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to make restless or aimless movements with the hands
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informal to spend (time) or act in a careless or inconsequential manner; waste (time)
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informal (often foll by with) to tamper or interfere (with)
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informal to contrive to do (something) by illicit means or deception
he fiddled his way into a position of trust
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informal (tr) to falsify (accounts, etc); swindle
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fiddlesimple
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fiddlessimple
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have fiddledperfect
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has fiddledperfect
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am fiddlingprogressive
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are fiddlingprogressive
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is fiddlingprogressive
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have been fiddlingperfect progressive
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has been fiddlingperfect progressive
Past
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fiddledsimple
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had fiddledperfect
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was fiddlingprogressive
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were fiddlingprogressive
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had been fiddlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fiddle
before 1000; Middle English; Old English fithele (cognate with German Fiedel, Dutch vedel, Old High German fidula ) probably < Vulgar Latin *vītula ( cf. viol, viola 1), perhaps derivative of Latin vītulārī to rejoice
Explanation
A fiddle is the same thing as a violin. The instrument, which has strings and is played with a bow, is more likely to be called a fiddle when it's used to play traditional or folk tunes, rather than classical music. Fiddle music is typically written for dancing, and it comes from backgrounds as diverse as Scotland, Eastern Europe, and the Cajun and Zydeco traditions from Louisiana. To play the fiddle is to fiddle, and when you mess or play around with something, you also fiddle: "Do you have to fiddle with your pen while I'm talking?" Someone who's "fit as a fiddle" is in perfect health.
Vocabulary lists containing fiddle
Musical Instruments - Introductory
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Musical Instruments - Middle School
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Musical Instruments - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Longtime Bingham pals Richard Bowden and Cody Huggins add fiddle and additional guitar, respectively.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
We can’t truly know the ERP unless we know what the market will return, and if we knew that, we wouldn’t have to fiddle with theoreticals about whether we’re being compensated enough.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Burnett: Definitely, yeah — it had a fiddle on it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
When Tesla reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, the numbers could once again play second fiddle to narrative details about the company’s futuristic forays into robotaxis and humanoid robots.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
We know only a few dances at home, the kind that go with fiddle and flute music and require a good deal of space.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Testing the human animal’s tolerance for plaintive fiddles, wheezy bagpipes, Peter Coyote and the whispery recitations of diary entries, “The American Revolution” is the most Ken Burns-y of Ken Burns series.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Ludwig Göransson’s phenomenal score backs Coogler up, layering fiddles over doom metal as if they were meant to harmonize.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025
As he told Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” in 1998, “it was fascinating what these guys could do with these banjos and these fiddles and the steel guitars.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
"Music in Ullapool is hyper focused around trad and folk - fiddles, accordions and pipes," said Whittle.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2024
To pass time, Helmuth fiddles with a radio dial, trying to tune in a station other than the German Reich radio, the RRG.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
It was one of more than 20 locations where he abused his position as party boss, spent more than £400,000 of SNP cash and fiddled the books afterwards.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
For years, the egg has ruled the breakfast table like a sun god—worshipped, aestheticized, endlessly fiddled with by men in starched aprons and women with ring lights.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025
Sitting at a park picnic table in Crystal City, Virginia, the morning light casting shadows over his face, Wall fiddled with the strap on his backpack.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025
He fiddled with a stack of papers while waiting for reporters in the room to quiet down and then, with self-assured gravitas, announced a detailed plan for legislation that would provide reparations for Black Californians.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
Clayton fiddled with the angel-shaped shakers on the table, knocking one against the other.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Neville is skeptical that businesses will be fiddling around with AI products to create their own cybersecurity.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
Take, for example, Parton’s great-grandmother, Tennessee, who kept her home open for “singing, fiddling, and buck dancing.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
Researchers quietly work away, fiddling with parts of the machine.
From Barron's ● Dec. 10, 2025
That means any game made for PC is going to work here - even if it takes a bit of fiddling to make it run properly.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025
Music wafted through the dusk—the trill and wail of a klezmer’s violin rivaled by a woman fiddling a lively Irish jig.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.