fiddle

1 noun (C) informal

1 BrE a dishonest way of getting money: a tax fiddle | be on the fiddle (=be getting money dishonestly or illegally): They suspected he was on the fiddle all along.

2 a violin

3 be a fiddle to be difficult to do and involve complicated movements of your hands: This blouse is a bit of a fiddle to do up.

—see also: fit as a fiddle fit 2 (3), play second fiddle to sb play 1 (15) 2 verb

1 (I) to keep moving something or touching it with your fingers, especially because you are bored or nervous

(+ with): She sat for a time, fiddling, with her glass. | Stop fiddling will you!

2 (T) to give false information about something, in order to avoid paying money or to get extra money: Bert had been fiddling his income tax for years. | fiddle the books (=give false figures in a company's financial records)

fiddle around also fiddle about BrE phrasal verb (I) to waste time doing unimportant things: We can't fiddle around here all day - let's move on. fiddle around with sth also fiddle about with sth BrE phrasal verb (T)

1 to keep moving the parts of something or making changes to it, especially in a way that is stupid or dangerous: Why did you let her fiddle around with the remote control?

2 to keep changing the positions of a group of things until you find the arrangement that you like: Is it all right if I fiddle around with these figures?

fiddle with sth phrasal verb (T)

1 to move part of a machine in order to make it work, without knowing exactly what you should do: After fiddling with the tuning I finally got JFM.

2 to move or touch something that does not belong to you, in an annoying way: Don't let him fiddle with my bag.