Fiddle (Verb)
Meaning 1
Play on a violin; "Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely".
Classification
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing.
Examples
- The musician fiddled a lively tune that brightened the atmosphere of the restaurant.
- She fiddled with the violin's strings for a while, trying to find the perfect melody.
- The street performer fiddled an enchanting rendition of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
- He began to fiddle a country tune, and soon the crowd was clapping along.
- As a child, Sarah would stand on the porch and fiddle folk songs with her grandfather.
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Commit fraud and steal from one's employer; "We found out that she had been fiddling for years".
Classification
Verbs of buying, selling, owning.
Examples
- The accountant had been fiddling the company's books to cover up the embezzlement scheme.
- He was fired after his employer discovered he had been fiddling with the expense reports for months.
- An investigation revealed that the store manager had been fiddling the stock levels to sell extra inventory on the side.
- She was accused of fiddling the payroll system to give herself unauthorized bonuses.
- The company's audit team caught an employee who had been fiddling the accounts payable to pay fake vendors.
Hypernyms
Meaning 3
Play the violin or fiddle.
Classification
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing.
Examples
- She began to fiddle a lively tune that got everyone on their feet and dancing.
- The young musician had been learning to fiddle since the age of five and was now quite skilled.
- As a child, he would often watch in awe as his grandfather fiddled at family gatherings.
- The sound of someone fiddling filled the air as the crowd waited for the concert to begin.
- She took her violin out of its case and started to fiddle a gentle melody.
Related Words
Meaning 4
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".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- She played nervously with her wedding ring, fiddling with the small diamond in a habitual motion.
- Don't fiddle with the screws, you might strip them and make the repair more difficult.
- He played with the idea of running for the Senate, fiddling with the notion in the back of his mind for weeks.
- The child was fiddling with the puzzle pieces, experimenting with different combinations to solve it.
- Stop fiddling with the dials, you're only making the radio signal worse.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
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Related Words
Meaning 5
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".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- She's always fiddling with the broken toaster trying to get it working again.
- My brother spends hours every weekend fiddling with his old car engine.
- The repairman fiddled with the leaky faucet for over an hour trying to fix the problem.
- Sarah is fiddling with the bike chain to get it unstuck.
- He fiddles with the antenna trying to get better reception on his radio.
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Meaning 6
Avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier shirked his duties".
Classification
Verbs of political and social activities and events.
Examples
- He was notorious for fiddling around with non-essential tasks to avoid his actual responsibilities.
- Given the option, she usually fiddled and wasted time on social media instead of doing her assigned work.
- The salesperson would often fiddle with their phone and appear busy whenever their supervisor walked by.
- Rather than tackle the difficult report, the intern tended to fiddle with trivial documents all day.
- Every time a tough project came up, he found excuses to fiddle around with less important tasks.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Meaning 7
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".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- Government funds were allocated for the new hospital, but some officials fiddled with the budget and used it for personal projects.
- She fiddled with her test results in order to get into the prestigious university.
- The employee was fired after it was discovered that he had been fiddling with the company's financial records for years.
- The journalist was accused of fiddling with the quotes to fit her own narrative.
- The business fiddled with the prices of their products to maintain an unfair competitive advantage in the market.