fiddle

fiddle

I

fid‧dle¹ /ˈfɪdl/ noun [countable] informal1. a violin
2. British English 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 somebody) at play¹(22)

II

fiddle² verb
1. [intransitive] 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. [transitive] British English 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. [intransitive] to play a violin
fiddle around (also fiddle about British English) phrasal verb
  to waste time doing unimportant things
fiddle around with something (also fiddle about with something British English) phrasal verb
  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
   SYN  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 something phrasal verb
  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.