WordWeb Online

1. Bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
   - violin

1. Avoid (one's assigned duties)
   "The derelict soldier fiddled his duties"
   - shirk, shrink from, goldbrick [N. Amer]
    
2. Commit fraud and steal from one's employer
   "We found out that she had been fiddling for years"
    
3. Play the violin or fiddle
    
4. Play on a violin
   "Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely"
    
5. Manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination
   "Don't fiddle with the screws"
   - toy, diddle, play
    
6. Play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly
   "The reporter fiddle with the facts"
   - tamper, monkey
    
7. Try to fix or mend
   "She always fiddles with her van on the weekend"
   - tinker

Derived forms: fiddled, fiddles, fiddling

See also: fiddler

Type of: avoid, bowed stringed instrument, bushel [US], defalcate, doctor, embezzle, fix, furbish up, malversate, manipulate, mend, misappropriate, peculate, play, repair, restore, spiel, string, touch on

Encyclopedia: Fiddle