Diddle vs. Fiddle

Diddlenoun

(music) In percussion, two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL), similar to the drag, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed.

Fiddlenoun

(music) Any of various bowed string instruments, often 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.’;

Diddlenoun

The penis.

Fiddlenoun

A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with leaves shaped like the musical instrument.

Diddleverb

To cheat; to swindle.

Fiddlenoun

An adjustment intended to cover up a basic flaw.

‘That parameter setting is just a fiddle to make the lighting look right.’;

Diddleverb

To have sex with.

Fiddlenoun

A fraud; a scam.

Diddleverb

To masturbate (especially of women).

Fiddlenoun

(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)

Diddleverb

(transitive) To waste time.

Fiddleverb

To play aimlessly.

‘You're fiddling your life away.’;

Diddleverb

(intransitive) To totter, like a child learning to walk; to daddle.

Fiddleverb

(transitive) To adjust or manipulate for deception or fraud.

‘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.’;

Diddleverb

To manipulate a value at the level of individual bits binary digits.

Fiddleverb

(music) To play traditional tunes on a violin in a non-classical style.

Diddleinterjection

A meaningless word used when singing a tune or indicating a rhythm.

‘What's that tune that goes "diddle di-dum, diddle di-dum, diddle di-dum-dum"?’;

Fiddleverb

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.

Diddleverb

To totter, as a child in walking.

Fiddlenoun

A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.

Diddleverb

To cheat or overreach.

Fiddlenoun

A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; - called also fiddle dock.

Diddleverb

deprive of by deceit;

‘He swindled me out of my inheritance’; ‘She defrauded the customers who trusted her’; ‘the cashier gypped me when he gave me too little change’;

Fiddlenoun

A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather.

Diddleverb

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’;

Fiddleverb

To play on a fiddle.

‘Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city.’;

Fiddleverb

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.’;

Fiddleverb

To play (a tune) on a fiddle.

Fiddlenoun

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

Fiddleverb

avoid (one's assigned duties);

‘The derelict soldier shirked his duties’;

Fiddleverb

commit fraud and steal from one's employer;

‘We found out that she had been fiddling for years’;

Fiddleverb

play the violin or fiddle

Fiddleverb

play on a violin;

‘Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely’;

Fiddleverb

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’;

Fiddleverb

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’;

Fiddleverb

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’;

Fiddle

A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres including classical music.