What is "fiddle"

Fiddle \Fid"dle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fiddled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fiddling.]

1. To play on a fiddle.

   Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city.
   --Bacon.

2. 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.
   --Pepys.

Fiddle \Fid"dle\, v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle.

Fiddle \Fid"dle\ (f[i^]d"d'l), n. [OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fi[eth]ele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fi[eth]la, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. Viol.]

1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.

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

3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather.
   --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

   Fiddle beetle (Zo["o]l.), a Japanese carabid beetle ( Damaster blaptoides); -- so called from the form of the body.

   Fiddle block (Naut.), a long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block.
   --Knight.

   Fiddle bow, fiddlestick.

   Fiddle fish (Zo["o]l.), the angel fish.

   Fiddle head, See fiddle head in the vocabulary.

   Fiddle pattern, a form of the handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin.

   Scotch fiddle, the itch. (Low)

   To play first fiddle, or To play second fiddle, to take a leading or a subordinate part. [Colloq.]

late 14c., "play upon a fiddle," from fiddle (n.); the figurative sense of "to act nervously, make idle movements, move the hands or something held in them in an idle, ineffective way" is from 1520s. Related: Fiddled; fiddling.

"stringed musical instrument, violin," late 14c., fedele, fydyll, fidel, earlier fithele, from Old English fiðele "fiddle," which is related to Old Norse fiðla, Middle Dutch vedele, Dutch vedel, Old High German fidula, German Fiedel "a fiddle;" all of uncertain origin.\n

\nThe usual suggestion, based on resemblance in sound and sense, is that it is from Medieval Latin vitula "stringed instrument" (source of Old French viole, Italian viola), which perhaps is related to Latin vitularia "celebrate joyfully," from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy and victory, who probably, like her name, originated among the Sabines [Klein, Barnhart]. Unless the Medieval Latin word is from the Germanic ones.\n\nFIDDLE, n. An instrument to tickle human ears by friction of a horse's tail on the entrails of a cat.

[Ambrose Bierce, "The Cynic's Word Book," 1906]

n. 1 (context music English) Any of various bowed string instruments, often used to refer to a violin when played in any of various traditional styles, as opposed to classical violin. 2 A kind of dock (''Rumex pulcher'') with leaf shaped like the musical instrument. 3 An adjustment intended to cover up a basic flaw. 4 A fraud; a scam. 5 (context nautical English) On board a ship or boat, a rail or batten around the edge of a table or stove to prevent objects falling off at se

1. (Also ''fiddle rail'') v

2. 1 To play aimlessly. 2 To adjust in order to cover a basic flaw or fraud et

3. 3 (context music English) To play traditional tunes on a violin in a non-classical style.

n. 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 [syn: violin]

1. v. avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier shirked his duties" [syn: shirk, shrink from, goldbrick]

2. commit fraud and steal from one's employer; "We found out that she had been fiddling for years"

3. play the violin or fiddle

4. play on a violin; "Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely"

5. 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" [syn: toy, diddle, play]

6. 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" [syn: tamper, monkey]

7. 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" [syn: tinker]

Fiddle is another name for the bowed string musical instrument more often called a violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, refers to various styles of music.

There are few real distinctions between violins and fiddles, though more primitively constructed and smaller violins are more likely to be considered fiddles. Due to the style of the music played, fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to allow multiple strings to be played simultaneously with more ease, such as the droning in bluegrass music or performing triple stops. Due to the properties and desired sound, fiddlers often choose steel strings (which produce a "brighter" tone) for their instruments, versus gut or synthetic core strings (which produce a deeper tone).

Fiddle is also a common term among musicians who play folk music on the violin. The fiddle is part of many traditional ( folk) styles of music which are aural traditions, taught 'by ear' rather than via written music. Another difference in musical styles is fiddling tends to produce rhythms focused on dancing, with associated quick note changes, whereas classical music tends to contain more vibrato and sustained notes. It is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music, but today, many fiddlers have classical training.

Fiddle is a 2010 Malayalam film directed by Prabhakaran Muthana starring Idea Star Singer fame Varun J. Thilak. It also has Jagathy Sreekumar, Ayilya and Salim Kumar in pivotal roles.