fiddle
n. countablen. a violin, especially when someone plays it for folk or country music. It can also mean a dishonest trick or a way to cheat the system.
n. a violin, particularly in the context of folk, country, or traditional music. In British English, it frequently refers to a fraudulent scheme or a dishonest manipulation of accounts.
He plays the fiddle in a local folk band.
The auditor discovered a clever fiddle in the company's expenses that had gone unnoticed for years.
While the instrument is physically identical to a violin, the performer's technique and rhythmic drive define it as a fiddle within the traditional Appalachian style.
From Middle English fithele, from Old English fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, trousers, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela). The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare Bedlam, staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).
Often used in the idiom 'fit as a fiddle' to mean very healthy.
- 01
fiddle while Rome burns
To neglect helping when one’s time is needed most; to ignore the major problem at hand (whilst doing something less important); to be idle, inactive, or uninterested in a time of great need.
- 02
hang up one's fiddle
Synonym of hang up one's boots.
- 03
play first fiddle
To play a leading role.