fiddle
part of speech
noun (a fiddle, fiddles); verb (fiddle, fiddles, fiddled, fiddling)
meaning for a pupil
1) A fiddle is a violin, especially when it is used to play folk or country music. tree →
2) To fiddle with something is to keep touching or moving it with your fingers, often because you are nervous or bored. tree →
3) (informal) To fiddle is to cheat, especially by changing figures to get money: «fiddle the books». A fiddle is such a cheat. tree →
4) (UK, informal) «A fiddle» can mean a task that is awkward and fiddly. tree →
5) To play the fiddle is to play the violin. tree →
sense in the lessons
In music lessons, fiddles are played in Irish, Scottish and country music. In class, teachers say «Stop fiddling with your pencil». In news about money, «fiddling expenses» means cheating. Phrases: «fit as a fiddle» (very healthy), «play second fiddle» (be less important), «fiddle with», «fiddle about / around», «fiddly».
examples
- She played a jig on her fiddle. tree →
- Stop fiddling with your zip and listen. tree →
- Grandpa is ninety but as fit as a fiddle. tree →
- He fiddled the numbers to pay less tax. tree →
- I'm tired of playing second fiddle to my big sister. tree →
- It was a real fiddle putting the tiny Lego pieces together. tree →
- Irish music often has a fiddle, a flute and a drum. tree →
- So he drew out his fiddle, and fiddled away lustily. tree →
note
Regular verb (fiddled, fiddling). Adjective «fiddly» (UK) means small and hard to handle. A fiddle and a violin are the same instrument; «fiddle» is the informal name. «Fiddlesticks!» is an old-fashioned mild way to say «nonsense».
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «fiddle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.