fiddle
gb/fˈɪdəl/ us/fˈɪdəl/
B1
Anglais
~ 9600
Sens
0 sens
Nom
informal
B1
entity
1
Informal word for a violin
A violin, especially in folk or country music.
Schéma d’usage :
play (the) fiddle
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes use 'fiddle' in formal writing when 'violin' is more appropriate. Use 'violin' in neutral or formal contexts, and 'fiddle' mainly in informal or folk-music contexts.
Synonymes
violin (The standard, more formal word; used especially in classical music contexts.)
Collocations
play the fiddle
|fiddle player
|fiddle tune
|fiddle music
|old fiddle
Thèmes
music
|arts
|arts_entertainment
Exemples
- She grew up in Ireland and learned to play the fiddle from her grandfather.
- The band features guitar, banjo, and fiddle on most tracks.
- He walked onto the stage with his fiddle tucked under his arm.
- A lonely fiddle played softly in the background of the scene.
Exemples pédagogiques
- My uncle plays the fiddle in a folk band.
- I want to learn the fiddle when I am older.
- The music has a fast fiddle and a strong beat.
- She carries her fiddle to music lessons every week.
Verbe
B1
action
2
Move something nervously with fingers
To keep moving or touching something small with your fingers because you are bored or nervous.
Schéma d’usage :
to fiddle with [something]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes confuse this sense with 'fiddle with' meaning 'to adjust or change something'. Here the focus is on nervous or bored movement, not on trying to fix or improve something.
Synonymes
fidget (Focuses more on general restless body movement, not always involving an object.)
|
play with (More general and neutral; does not always imply nervousness.)
Antonymes
keep still (Means not moving at all, especially not in a restless way.)
Collocations
fiddle with your hair
|fiddle with a pen
|fiddle with your phone
|fiddle with your keys
Thèmes
daily life
|body
|emotions
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- He sat there fiddling with his keys while he waited for the interview to start.
- Stop fiddling with your phone and listen to me.
- She nervously fiddled with her wedding ring during the meeting.
- The child kept fiddling with the zipper on his jacket.
Exemples pédagogiques
- Please do not fiddle with the door handle.
- She fiddled with her hair when she talked.
- He always fiddles with a pen in class.
- I fiddle with my phone when I am bored.
Verbe
B2
action
3
Make small, often aimless adjustments
To change something again and again in small ways, often just to try it or make it a little better.
Schéma d’usage :
to fiddle with [device/settings/idea]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes think 'fiddle with' always means 'to play' or 'to waste time', but in this sense it can be a normal, useful activity of adjusting something, especially machines or settings.
Synonymes
tinker (Suggests informal experimenting, often with machines or technical things.)
|
adjust (More neutral and purposeful; does not imply uncertainty or aimlessness.)
Antonymes
leave alone (To not change or touch something at all.)
Collocations
fiddle with the settings
|fiddle with the controls
|fiddle with the design
|fiddle with the code
Thèmes
technology
|work
|daily life
Exemples
- I spent the afternoon fiddling with the router, trying to get the Wi‑Fi to work.
- She keeps fiddling with the layout of the website but never actually finishes it.
- He fiddled with the camera settings until the picture looked right.
- The engineers are still fiddling with the design before the final release.
Exemples pédagogiques
- He likes to fiddle with old radios in his free time.
- She fiddled with the volume until the music was not too loud.
- I have to fiddle with the app settings to make it work.
- They fiddled with the plan many times before the meeting.
unknown
informal
C1
action
4
Dishonestly alter accounts or records
To change numbers or papers in a secret and wrong way to get money or another benefit.
Schéma d’usage :
to fiddle [the books/expenses/taxes]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners may confuse this with the neutral or playful senses of 'fiddle'. In this sense it always involves dishonesty, usually with money or official numbers.
Synonymes
cheat (Very general; does not specifically refer to changing records or numbers.)
|
falsify (More formal; used especially for official records or documents.)
Antonymes
keep honest accounts (Emphasizes recording money and numbers truthfully.)
Collocations
fiddle the books
|fiddle his expenses
|fiddle their taxes
|fiddle the figures
Thèmes
money
|crime
|work
|finance
|law
|business
Exemples
- The manager was fired after it was discovered he had been fiddling the books for years.
- They were accused of fiddling their expenses to claim money they were not entitled to.
- A journalist revealed that the company had fiddled its sales figures to impress investors.
- He went to prison for fiddling the tax returns of several clients.
Exemples pédagogiques
- The boss went to jail because he fiddled the company accounts.
- She lost her job after she fiddled her travel expenses.
- The firm was in trouble because someone had fiddled the numbers.
- He refused to fiddle the books, even when his boss asked him.
Nom
informal
C1
entity
5
Small fraud or cheating scheme
A small, secret way of getting money or benefits that is not honest or legal.
Schéma d’usage :
a [tax/expenses] fiddle
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes think 'fiddle' here means 'problem' or 'difficult job'. In this sense it clearly means a dishonest money scheme.
Synonymes
racket (Informal; often suggests an organized or repeated scam.)
Antonymes
honest deal (Emphasizes that something is done in a fair and legal way.)
Collocations
on the fiddle
|tax fiddle
|expenses fiddle
|a bit of a fiddle
Thèmes
money
|crime
|work
|finance
|law
|business
Exemples
- It turned out to be a simple expenses fiddle that had gone on for years.
- The tax authorities are cracking down on small cash‑in‑hand fiddles.
- He was clearly on the fiddle, but nobody wanted to challenge him.
- The scheme was exposed as a massive pension fiddle affecting thousands of people.
Exemples pédagogiques
- The police found a small tax fiddle at the company.
- She was on the fiddle and took money from the shop.
- They ran a little fiddle with travel tickets.
- The manager lost his job because of an expenses fiddle.
Nom
informal
B2
entity
6
Annoyingly fiddly or fussy task
A job that is too slow and difficult because it needs many small actions and takes a lot of time.
Schéma d’usage :
a [real/bit of a] fiddle
Erreur fréquente :
Learners may confuse this with the musical meaning of 'fiddle'. In this sense, 'a fiddle' does not mean a violin; it means a job that is too complicated or fussy.
Synonymes
hassle (Emphasizes trouble and inconvenience, not always small detailed work.)
|
faff (BrE informal; stresses wasted time and confusion.)
Antonymes
simple task (Something easy and quick to do, without extra effort.)
Collocations
a real fiddle
|a bit of a fiddle
|what a fiddle
|all that fiddle
Thèmes
daily life
|work
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- Changing the cartridge on this printer is a bit of a fiddle.
- What a fiddle just to open a bank account online.
- Filling in all those forms was such a fiddle that I nearly gave up.
- Getting the cables through that tiny hole was a real fiddle.
Exemples pédagogiques
- Building this shelf is a real fiddle.
- It is a fiddle to change the ink in this printer.
- Booking the ticket online was a bit of a fiddle.
- Cooking this dish is a fiddle because there are many small steps.
Verbe
informal
B2
action
7
Play the violin/fiddle
To play music on a violin or fiddle.
Schéma d’usage :
to fiddle [a tune/song]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes confuse this with 'fiddle with' meaning 'to touch something'. When 'fiddle' takes a direct object like 'a tune' and the context is music, it means 'to play the violin/fiddle'.
Synonymes
play the violin (More neutral and common; does not carry the folk-music feeling that 'fiddle' can have.)
Collocations
fiddle a tune
|fiddling in a band
|fiddle at a festival
Thèmes
music
|arts
|arts_entertainment
Exemples
- He has been fiddling in bluegrass bands since he was a teenager.
- A musician fiddled a lively tune as people danced.
- She loves to fiddle at local folk festivals on weekends.
- They played guitar and sang while their friend fiddled softly in the background.
Exemples pédagogiques
- Her grandfather taught her to fiddle when she was young.
- He fiddles in a small country band.
- A man was fiddling in the corner of the bar.
- She likes to fiddle with her friends at parties.
Verbe
informal
B2
action
8
Waste time on unimportant things
To waste time doing little things that are not important.
Schéma d’usage :
to fiddle around/about
Erreur fréquente :
Learners may translate this too literally and miss the idea of wasting time. In this sense 'fiddle around' or 'fiddle about' usually suggests that nothing important is being done.
Synonymes
mess around (Very similar; often used when someone is not taking things seriously.)
|
potter (BrE; suggests gentle, relaxed activity, not always negative.)
Antonymes
get on with it (Informal phrase meaning to stop wasting time and start doing the real task.)
Collocations
fiddle around all day
|fiddle about in the garage
|fiddle around on your phone
Thèmes
daily life
|work
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- I spent the whole afternoon just fiddling around on my laptop instead of doing my work.
- Stop fiddling about and help me with these boxes.
- He likes to fiddle around in the shed, fixing little things.
- We fiddled about for an hour before we finally left the house.
Exemples pédagogiques
- He just fiddled around all morning and did not study.
- Stop fiddling about and start your homework.
- She likes to fiddle around in the kitchen on Sundays.
- They fiddled about on their phones while they waited.
Nom
technical
C1
entity
9
Raised edge to stop items sliding
A small raised bar on the edge of a table or shelf that stops things from falling off, especially on a ship.
Schéma d’usage :
fiddles on [a table/shelf]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners may think this is connected to music. In nautical or technical contexts, 'fiddles' refers to raised edges on surfaces, not instruments.
Synonymes
guard rail (General term; not specific to tables or ships.)
Collocations
table fiddles
|fiddles on the galley table
|shelf fiddles
Thèmes
transport
|technology
|travel
|transportation
Exemples
- The mess room tables were fitted with fiddles to keep plates from sliding in rough seas.
- Make sure the fiddles are secure before we set sail.
- The carpenter added fiddles to the galley shelves so the jars would stay in place.
- Without fiddles, everything on the table would end up on the floor in heavy weather.
Exemples pédagogiques
- There are fiddles on the ship's tables to stop dishes from falling.
- The shelf had small fiddles along the edge.
- They added fiddles so cups would not slide off.
- On a boat, fiddles help keep things in place.
Grammaire
Forme canonique
fiddle
API
GB/fˈɪdəl/
US/fˈɪdəl/
Syllabes et accentuation
fiddle (1 syllabe)
Stress on 1st syllable (fiddle)
Formes du mot
Noun
- Base: fiddle
- Plural: fiddles
Verb
- Base: fiddle
- 3rd Person Singular: fiddles
- Present Participle: fiddling
- Past: fiddled
Famille de mots
Expressions
fiddle about
1/fˈɪdəl əbˈaʊt/
phrasal verb
informal
BrE: spend time on unimportant things
BrE: To waste time doing many small things that are not important.
Exemples
- I fiddled about in the kitchen until dinner time.
- We fiddled about for half an hour before we finally left the house.
fiddle around
1/fˈɪdəl ɚˈaʊnd/
phrasal verb
informal
Waste time doing little things
To spend time doing small, unimportant things instead of real work.
Exemples
- We just fiddled around all afternoon and never got anything done.
- Stop fiddling around and clean your room.
- He likes to fiddle around in the garage on weekends.
fiddle around with
1/fˈɪdəl ɚˈaʊnd wˈɪθ/
phrasal verb
Experiment by making small changes
To make many small changes to something to see how it works or to try to make it better.
Exemples
- I spent the evening fiddling around with the new software.
- She likes to fiddle around with old radios and fix them.
- They are fiddling around with the design before the final version is printed.
fiddle away
1/fˈɪdəl əwˈeɪ/
phrasal verb
informal
Waste time or money
To waste time or money on things that are not important.
Exemples
- He fiddled away the whole afternoon instead of studying.
- They fiddled away most of their savings on gambling and parties.
- She fiddled away the time scrolling through social media.
fiddle the books
1/fˈɪdəl ðə bˈʊks/
fixed phrase
informal
Dishonestly change financial records
To change money records in a secret and wrong way, usually to steal money or hide problems.
Exemples
- The accountant went to prison for fiddling the books.
- They discovered he had been fiddling the books for years to hide losses.
- The report claimed that several managers had fiddled the books to increase their bonuses.
fiddle while Rome burns
1/fˈɪdəl wˈaɪl ɹˈoʊm bˈɚnz/
idiom
literary
Ignore a crisis to do trivial things
To do small, unimportant things and ignore a big and serious problem.
Exemples
- The company is losing money, but the managers just fiddle while Rome burns.
- With climate change getting worse, some governments seem to be fiddling while Rome burns.
fiddle with
1/fˈɪdəl wˈɪθ/
phrasal verb
Touch or move something nervously
To keep moving or touching something small with your fingers, often because you are bored, nervous, or not paying attention.
Exemples
- He fiddled with his watch while he waited for the call.
- Please stop fiddling with the remote and choose a channel.
- She sat at the back of the room, fiddling with her necklace.
fit as a fiddle
1/fˈɪt ˈæz ə fˈɪdəl/
idiom
informal
In very good physical condition
Very healthy and strong.
Exemples
- My grandmother is ninety and still fit as a fiddle.
- He goes to the gym every day and is fit as a fiddle.
- After a week of rest, she was fit as a fiddle again.
on the fiddle
1/ˈɔn ðə fˈɪdəl/
idiom
informal
Doing small, regular financial cheating
Doing a small but regular money cheat, for example at work or with taxes.
Exemples
- Everyone knew he was on the fiddle, but no one reported him.
- The investigation found that several employees had been on the fiddle for years.
- He used to be on the fiddle, claiming for expenses he never had.
play first fiddle
1/plˈeɪ fˈɚst fˈɪdəl/
idiom
Have the main leading role
To be the most important or leading person in a group or activity.
Exemples
- She plays first fiddle in the project and makes all the key decisions.
- For the first time in his career, he was playing first fiddle rather than supporting others.
play second fiddle (to someone)
1/plˈeɪ sˈɛkənd fˈɪdəl tə sˈʌmwˌʌn/
idiom
Be in a less important role
To have a less important position than another person and accept that they are the leader or main person.
Exemples
- He was tired of playing second fiddle to his younger brother.
- She refused to play second fiddle to anyone in the company.
- For years he played second fiddle to the star striker on the team.
play the fiddle
1/plˈeɪ ðə fˈɪdəl/
fixed phrase
Play the violin
To play music on a violin or fiddle.
Exemples
- Her father taught her to play the fiddle when she was a child.
- He plays the fiddle in a traditional Irish band.
- A street musician was playing the fiddle outside the station.