fiddle 
I. intrans. 1. To play upon the fiddle or vio- 
lin or some similar instrument. 
Themistocles . . . said "he could not fiddle, but he couM 
make a small town a great city." 
Bacon, True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates(ed. 1887). 
This man could not Ml'', ronld net tune himself to be 
pleasant and plausible' to all Companies. 
l>':ill,'f, Worthies, Lancashire. 
Hence 2. To scrape, as one stretched string 
upon another. 
One of the most essential points in a good micrometer 
is that all the webs shall be so nearly in the same plane as 
to Ije well in focus together under the highest powers used, 
and at the same time absolutely free from fiddling. 
Encyc. Brit., XVI. 244. 
3. To play (upon), in a figurative sense. [Rare.] 
Fiddle-block. 
What dost |thou] think I am, that tlion should 
So much upon my patience ? 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, v. 1. 
4. To move the hands or other objects over one 
another or about in an idle or ineffective way. 
The ladies walked, talking, tuvljitldliiig with their hats 
and feathers. Pepys, Diary. 
5. To be busy with trifles; trifle; do something 
requiring considerable pains and patience with- 
out any adequate result. 
ZLfrOMi 1. To play on, in a figurative sense. 
The devil fiddle them ! I am glad they are going. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., i. 3. 
2. To play (a tune) on a fiddle. 
fiddle-block (fid'1-blok), n. Naut., a long block 
having two sheaves of different di- 
ameters in the same plane, not, as 
in the usual form, side by side, but 
one above the other. 
fiddle-bow (fid '1 -bo), n. A bow 
strung with horse-hair with which 
the strings of the violin or a similar 
instrument are set in vibration. Al- 
so nddlestick. See cut under violin. 
fiddlecumt, fiddlecomet (fid'l- 
kum), a. [Cf. fiddle-cum-faddle, 
fiddle-de-dee.] Nonsensical. 
Do you think such a fine proper gentleman as he cares 
for a jiddleeoine tale of a draggle-tailed girl ? 
Vanbrugh, Relapse, iv. 1. 
fiddle-cum-faddle, fiddle-come-faddle (fid'l- 
kum-fad"]), . Same as fiddle-faddle. 
Boys must not be their own choosers ; . . . they have 
their sympathies undfiddle-came-f addles in their brain, and 
know not what they would ha' themselves. 
Cowley, Cutter of Coleman Street. 
fiddle-de-dee (fid'1-de-de'), infer/. [Loosely 
connected with fiddle-faddle and fiddlestick! 
used in the same way in allusion to fiddle, which 
in popular use carries with it a suggestion of 
contempt and ridicule ; hardly, as has been 
suggested, a corruption of the It. exclamation 
fediddio, lit. God's faith.] Nonsense! an ex- 
clamation used in dismissing a remark as silly 
or trifling. 
All the return he ever had . . . was a word, too com- 
mon, I regret to say, in female lips, viz., fiddle-de-dee. 
De Quincey, Secret Societies, i. 
fiddle-faddle (fid'l-fad"l), v. i. [A varied re- 
duplication of. fiddle, expressing contempt: see 
fiddle-de-dee. Cf. fidfad, a shorter form.] To 
trifle ; busy one's self with nothing ; talk trifling 
nonsense ; dawdle ; dally. 
Ye may as easily 
Outrun a cloud, driven by a northern blast, 
As fiddle-faddle so. Ford, Broken Heart, i. 3. 
fiddle-faddle (fid'l-fad"l), n. and a. [See fid- 
dle-faddle, v.] I. n. Trifling talk; trifles. Also 
fiddle-cum-faddle and fidfad. 
Th' alarums of soft vows and sighs, and fiddle-faddles, 
Spoils all our trade. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, i. 1. 
H. a. Trifling; making a bustle about no- 
thing. 
She was a troublesome fiddle-faddle old woman. 
Arbuthnot. 
fiddle-faddler (fid'l-fad"ler), . One who 
busies himself with fiddle- 
faddles. 
fiddle-fish (fid'1-fish), n. 
The monkfish or angel- 
fish: so called from its 
shape. [Local, Eng.] 
fiddle-head (fid'1-hed), . 
Naut., an ornament at 
the bow of a ship, over the 
cutwater, consisting of 
carved work in the form 
of a volute or scroll, re- 
sembling somewhat that 
at the head of a violin. 
fiddler (fid'ler), n. [< ME. fideler,fydeler, fithe- 
ler, < AS.fithelere = D. vedelaar = MHG.'n'rfe- 
2201 
liere, G. fiedler = Icel. jidlilnri = Dan. fidler, a 
fiddler (cf. -ML. riJufalBr, ridxlator); from the 
verb (which is not recorded in AS.) : see fiddle.} 
1. One who plays a fiddle, violin, or some simi- 
lar instrument ; a violinist. 
Noust to fare as n fitlitltr or a frere, for to seke festes. 
Piers Plowman (B), x. 92. 
I'm the king of the lidlers. 
Robin Hood's Birth (Child's Ballads, V. 351). 
What music will be in him when Hector has knocked 
out his brains, I know not, . . . unless the fiddler Apollo 
gets his sinews to make catlings on. 
Shak., T. and C., iii. 3. 
2. Asixpence. [Eng. slang.] 3. In the United 
States, a fiddler-crab. 
Fiddlers, which the inexperienced visitor might at first 
mistake for so many peculiar beetles, as they run about 
side-ways, each with his huge single claw folded upon his 
body like a wing-case. Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 735. 
4. The common sandpiper, Tringoides hypoleu- 
cus, so called from its habit of balancing the 
body as if on a pivot. The corresponding species in 
the United States, T. macularius, is for the same reason 
called teetertaU or tip-up. Fiddler's fare, meat, drink, 
and money. 
Mitt. Did your ladyship play? 
Lady Sm. Yes, and won ; so I came off with fiddler's 
/are, meat, drink, and money. 
Sarift, Polite Conversation, iii. 
Fiddler's green, a name given by sailors to their dance- 
houses and other places of frolic on shore ; sailors' para- 
dise. Fiddler's money, a lot of small silver coins, such 
small coin being the remuneration paid to fiddlers in old 
times by each of the company. Fiddler's muscle. See 
fidicinali*. 
fiddler-crab (fid'ler-krab), n. A small crab of 
the genus Gelasinms, as G. vocans or G. pttgila- 
tor; a calling-crab: so called from the waving 
or brandishing of the odd large claw, as if fid- 
dling. They are useful for bait, and injurious by burrow- 
ing into and weakening levees and dams. See cut under 
Gelaximuv. 
fiddle-shaped (fid'l-shapt), a. Having the form 
of a fiddle or violin ; pandurate or 
panduriform : applied in botany to 
an obovate leaf which is contracted 
above the base. 
fiddlestick (fid'1-stik), . [ME. 
fydylstyk; < fiddle + stick, n.] 1. 
Same as fiddle-bow. 
Here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall 
make you dance. Shak., R. and J., iii. 1. 
2. A mere nothing; chiefly as an 
exclamation, nonsense! fiddle-de-dee! often in 
the plural, fiddlesticks! 
You are strangely frighted ; 
Shot with a fiddlestick ! who's here to shoot you? 
Fletcher, Pilgrim, iii. 4. 
At such an assertion he would have exclaimed : A fiddle- 
stick! Why and how that word has become an interjec- 
tion of contempt I must leave those to explain who can. 
Southey, The Doctor, clxxxlx. 
She wanted to marry her cousin, Tom Poyntz, when 
they were both very young, and proposed to die of a bro- 
ken heart when I arranged her match with Mr. Newcome. 
A broken fiddlestick ! she would have ruined Tom Poyntz 
in a year. Thackeray, Newcomes, x. 
The devil rides on a fiddlestick. See deeil. 
fiddle-String (fid'l-string), . A string for a 
fiddle or violin. 
fiddle-treet, Same as fiddlewood. 
fiddlewood (fid'1-wud), n. [Formerly also fid- 
dle-tree; < fiddle + wood (or tree). The E. 
name (as the NL. generic name Citharexylitm, 
which is a translation of fiddlewood) existed 
before 1692, and appar. originated in Barba- 
dos or Jamaica. The wood was said at that 
time to be used in making fiddles. The notion 
that the name is a half -translation, half -perver- 
sion of F. boisfidele, 'stanch or faithful wood,' 
in allusion to its durability, finds record in 
Miller's "Gardener's Diet." (1759) (where the 
"French" name is given as "fidelle wood"), but 
lacks evidence. The F. fidele does not mean 
'stanch' except as a synonym of ' faithful,' and 
is prop., like E. faithful, a subjective term, not 
applicable to inert objects. Its orig. L. fidelis, 
faithful, etc., has, however, the objective sense 
stanch, strong, durable, etc.] A common name 
for West Indian species of Citharexylum, and 
trees of allied genera, as C. quadrangitlare, C. 
rMlosum (which is also found in southern Flor- 
ida), Vitex umbrosa, Petitia Domiiigensis, etc. 
The wood is heavy, hard, and strong, and is 
used in building. 
fiddling (fid'ling), n. [Verbal n. of fiddle, .] 
1. The act or practice of playing on the fiddle. 
We see Nero's fiddling, and Commodus's skill in fencing, 
on several of their medals. Addisrm, Ancient Medals, iii. 
2. Trifling; useless or unimportant doings; 
fidgeting with the fingers or hands. 
Fiddle-shaped 
Leaf. 
fidge 
Those degenerate arts and shifts, whereby many coun- 
sellors and governors gain both favour with their masters 
and estimation with the vulgar, deserve no better name 
than tii/dliiin, being things rather pleasing for the time, 
and graceful to themselves only, than tending to the u <-:i 1 
:niil ailvruii'i'inent nf the State. 
Bacon, True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates (ed. 1887). 
fiddling (fid'ling),;). a. [Ppr. ot fiddle, .] Tri- 
fling; trivial; fussily busy with nothing. 
< ;.i.ul cnoks cannot abide what they justly call fi</</liii>i 
work, where abundance of time is spent, and little done. 
Sivift, Directions to Servants, ii. 
Fidei Defensor (fid'e-i de-fen'sor). [L. : fidei, 
gen. of fides, faith ; rfe/ensor, defender.] De- 
fender of the Faith. See defender. 
fidejussion (fi-de-jush'on), n. [< LL. fidejus- 
sio(n-), < fidejus'sus, pp. of fidejubere, or sepa- 
rately fidejube re, be surety or bail, lit. confirm 
by a promise, < fide, abl. of fides, faith, prom- 
ise, + jubere, order, bid, ratify, approve.] In 
law, suretyship; the act of being bound as 
surety for another. 
If he will be a surety, such is the nature of fidejussion 
and suretiship, he must. Farindon, Sermons (1647), p. 15. 
fidejussor (fl-de-jus'or), n. [LL., < fidejvssus, 
pp. of fidejubere : see fidejussion.] A surety; 
one bound for another. 
God might . . . have appointed godfathers to give an- 
swer in behalf of the children, and to be fidejussors for 
them. Jar. Taylor, Liberty of Prophesying, 18. 
fidelet, a. [< OF. fidele, F. fidele, < L. fidelis, 
faithful, that may be trusted, trusty, true, < 
fides, faith, trust : see faith. Cf. feali, a dou- 
blet of fidele.'] Faithful; loyal. 
We not only made his (Pole's) whole family of nought, 
but enhanced them to so high nobility and honour as they 
have been so long as they were true and fidele unto us. 
Hen. VIII. to Sir T. Wyatt, March 10, 1539. 
fidelity (fl-del'i-ti), . [< F. fidilite = Pr. fe- 
deltut = Sp. fidelidad = Pg. fidelidade = It. fe- 
deltd, fedelita, fidelitti, < L. fidfhta(t-)s, faith- 
fulness, firm adherence, trustiness, < fidelis, 
faithful: see fidele. Cf. fealty, a doublet of 
fidelity. 1 1. Good faith; careful and exact ob- 
servance of duty or performance of obligations : 
as, conjugal or official fidelity. 
I experienced in this brave Arab such an extraordinary 
instance of fidelity, as is rarely to be met with. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 114. 
Constancy, fidelity, bounty, and generous honesty, are 
the gems of noble minds. 
Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., i. 36. 
2. Faithful devotion or submission; unswerv- 
ing adherence ; close or exact conformity ; feal- 
ty; allegiance: as, fidelity to a husband or wife, 
or to a trust ; fidelity to one's principles or to in- 
structions; the dog is the type of fidelity. 
The fidelity of the allies of Rome, which had not been 
shaken by the defeat of Thrasymenus, could not resist the 
flery trial of Cannae. Dr. Arnold, Hist. Rome, xliv. 
Verbal translations are always inelegant, because al- 
ways destitute of beauty of idiom and language, for by 
their fidelity to an author's words they become treacher- 
ous to his reputation. 
Grainger, Advertisement to Elegies of Tibullus. 
3. Faithful adherence to truth or reality ; strict 
conformity to fact; truthfulness; exactness; 
accuracy : as, the fidelity of a witness, of a nar- 
rative, or of a picture Order of Fidelity, (a) An 
order of the duchy of Baden, founded by the margrave 
Charles William in 1715. It is still in existence, and con- 
sists of two classes only, that of grand cross and that of 
commander. The badge is a cross of eight points in red 
enamel, having between each two arms the cipher CC ; 
the same cipher occupies the middle of the cross, with the 
motto Fidelitas. The ribbon is orange-colored and edged 
with blue. (6) An order of Portugal, founded by John VI. 
in 1823 for the supporters of the monarchy during the in- 
surrectionary movements in that country. = Syn. Faith, 
integrity, trustiness, trustworthiness, conscientiousness : 
Constancy, Faithfulness, etc. (see firmness). 
fides (fi'dez), n. [L., faith, personified Faith : 
see faith.'] 1. Faith. 2. leap."] InRoni.niytli., 
the goddess of faith or fidelity, commonly rep- 
resented as a matron wearing a wreath of olive- 
or laurel-leaves, and having in her hand ears 
of corn or a basket of fruit. Bona fides, good 
faith. Mala fides, bad faith. 
fidfad (fid'fad), . [E. dial., a trifle, a trifler: 
see fiddle-faddle and /<#.] A contraction of 
fiddle-faddle. 
fidge (fij), .; pret. and pv.fidged, vpr.fldging. 
[Assibilated form of fiq^, this being another 
form otfick,fike^: seefig^,fick, and^e 2 . Hence 
freq. fidget."] I. intrans. To fidget. [Now only 
Scotch.] 
Nay, never 
up and down, . . . and vex himself. 
B. Janson, Bartholomew Fair, i. 1. 
The fidging of gallants to Norfolk and up and down 
countries. lUiddleton, Black Book. 
Even Satan glower'd and fidg'd fu' fain. 
Burns, Tarn o' Shanter. 
