Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fiddle
Fid′dle
(fĭd′d’l)
, Noun.
[OE.
fidele
, fithele
, AS. fiðele
; akin to D. vedel
, OHG. fidula
, G. fiedel
, Icel. fiðla
, and perh. to E. viol
. Cf. Viol
.] 1.
(Mus.)
A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.
2.
(Bot.)
A kind of dock (
Rumex pulcher
) with fiddle-shaped leaves; – called also fiddle dock
. 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.
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.]
Fid′dle
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Fiddled
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fiddling
.] 1.
To play on a fiddle.
Themistocles . . . said he could not
fiddle
, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon.
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.
Talking, and
fiddling
with their hats and feathers. Pepys.
Fid′dle
,Verb.
T.
To play (a tune) on a fiddle.
Webster 1828 Edition
Fiddle
FID'DLE
,Noun.
FID'DLE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To play on a fiddle or violin.Themistocles said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city.
It is said that Nero fiddled, when Rome was in flames.
2.
To trifle; to shift the hands often and do nothing, like a fellow that plays on a fiddle.Good cooks cannot abide what they call fiddling work.
FID'DLE
,Verb.
T.
Definition 2024
fiddle
fiddle
English
Noun
fiddle (plural fiddles)
- (music) Any of various bowed string instruments, often used to refer to a violin when played in any of various traditional styles, as opposed to classical violin.
- When I play it like this, it's a fiddle; when I play it like that, it's a violin.
- A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with leaves shaped like the musical instrument.
- An adjustment intended to cover up a basic flaw.
- That parameter setting is just a fiddle to make the lighting look right.
- A fraud; a scam.
- (nautical) On board a ship or boat, a rail or batten around the edge of a table or stove to prevent objects falling off at sea. (Also fiddle rail)
Synonyms
- (instrument): violin
Derived terms
terms derived from fiddle (noun)
Translations
instrument
|
|
adjustment
fraud
nautical: rail or batten
|
See also
Verb
fiddle (third-person singular simple present fiddles, present participle fiddling, simple past and past participle fiddled)
- To play aimlessly.
- Samuel Pepys
- Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers.
- You're fiddling your life away.
- Samuel Pepys
- To adjust in order to cover a basic flaw or fraud etc.
- I needed to fiddle the lighting parameters to get the image to look right.
- Fred was sacked when the auditors caught him fiddling the books.
- (music) To play traditional tunes on a violin in a non-classical style.
- Francis Bacon
- Themistocles […] said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city.
- Francis Bacon
- To touch or fidget with something in a restless or nervous way, or tinker with something in an attempt to make minor adjustments or improvements.
Synonyms
- (to adjust in order to cover a basic flaw): fudge
Derived terms
terms derived from fiddle (verb)
Translations
to play aimlessly
to adjust in order to cover a basic flaw or fraud
to play traditional tunes on a violin in a non-classical style
to fidget or tinker
|