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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

fiddle with en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To manipulate or toy with (an object), especially in a nervous, restless or aimless manner.
    • Stop fiddling with your food!
  2. (transitive) To tinker with: to make small adjustments or improvements to (something), especially in an experimental or unskilled manner.
    • Fiddle with vertical VOLT/DIV knob until signal comes into view. 2000, Paul Scherz, Practical electronics for inventors, page 452:
    • If you fiddle with the controls, you might be able to get a better TV picture.
    • As technology got better, he'd go back and fiddle with them, convinced he could clean them up enough for release. 2007, Sheryl J. Anderson, Killer Riff, page 49:
    • The deadline for my report is two o'clock, but I'm still fiddling with it.
  3. (figuratively, transitive) To manipulate in order to gain something for oneself.
    • Don't Fiddle With Sellers Who Have No Equity 2004, Jay P. DeCima, Start Small, Profit Big in Real Estate, page 65:
  4. (colloquial, euphemistic, reflexive, transitive, usually) To masturbate.
    • I was in the Woodley Park–Zoo in D.C. and mom and sister were waiting to see the pandas, so me and my pops broke away to check out the monkey house. Well, there was a beautiful teacher, I mean we're talking a ten, she was blond, had a low-cut dress on, just gorgeous. And she has about eight or nine students and she's pointing out all the different monkeys. And me and my dad noticed this huge orangutan kind of fiddling with himself. And on close [censored] And we kept checking it out and he was looking directly at the teacher. Well, a couple minutes passed by [censored] he proceeds to [censored] that's when the teacher noticed and, you know, took the kids away very hurriedly. But I looked at my dad and said, you know, they're so much like us. 2006 May 9, Penn Jillette, Michael Goudeau, quoting Chris, 22:22 from the start, in Penn Radio:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fiddled with Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fiddled with Tense=Past lexicographic
fiddling with Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fiddles with Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Deriveds

refiddle with

Synonyms

toy with (to manipulate an object restlessly) · adjust (to adjust the position) · twirl (to manipulate an object restlessly) · mess with (to manipulate in order to gain something) · tinker (to adjust the position) · tweak (to adjust the position) · play with (to manipulate an object restlessly)

Translations (2)

es toquetear (to restlessly toy with) · mi rāwekeweke (to restlessly toy with)