fiddle

Meaning

1. Synonym of violin, a small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin, shoulder, chest or on the upper thigh and played with a bow; the position of a violinist in a band; (usually proscribed) any of various bowed stringed instruments, particularly those of the violin family when played non-classically.
2. Synonym of clown: an unserious person entertaining a group.
3. (slang) Unskillful or unartful behavior, particularly when showy and superficially pleasing.
4. (slang) Unskillful or unartful behavior, particularly when showy and superficially pleasing.
5. Any rail or device that prevents items from sliding off a table, stove, etc. in rough water.
6. (obsolete,slang) Synonym of arrest warrant.
7. (obsolete,slang) Synonym of watchman's rattle.
8. (obsolete,slang) A trifling amount.
9. Something resembling a violin in shape
10. Something resembling a violin in shape
11. Something resembling a violin in shape

violin

🎻

shrink from

ebb away

mess with

move back

play tricks

strike up

fiddle around

move about restlessly

flim-flam

dilly dally

bamboo clump

bamboo stump

violinette

bed box

cabinet base

cabinet leg

Frequency

Hyphenated as

fid‧dle

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfɪd(ə)l/

From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela). The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).