Term Gallery logo

Meanings of fiddling in English

(Informal) small and of little importance.

Related terms
Usage of fiddling in English
1
Guess that means I can finally start fiddling with your financial records.
Ryan's place
2
I may have helped it freeze by fiddling with certain environmental controls.
Seveneves
3
He was fiddling with the carriage release, exasperated, tugging at the paper.
Small wars: a novel
4
But once you start fiddling with the facts, it's hard to stop.
The Guardian
5
Rupert bristled at the order, but he began fiddling with a console.
Heaven's Queen
6
School's not in session now, so you've no business fiddling with it.
Masked
7
Once you start fiddling with the equalizer settings it's hard to stop.
Wired
8
After about twenty minutes of careful fiddling, Marten threw up his hands.
The Wise Man’s Fear
9
They pulled him off the stove, and set him to work fiddling.
Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore
10
Finally she pointed to the sealed envelope Alexia was fiddling with nervously.
Soulless
11
Aria shifted her weight, fiddling with the cuff of her hooded sweater.
Heartless
12
The rest of these peeps are all just fiddling on their phones.
The South African
13
It takes fiddling to keep the side straps from scraping your ears.
Rock and Ice Magazine
14
He was fiddling with the lid of his bottle as he talked.
Evil and the Mask
15
After a moment's fiddling with levers and adjustments Roy started the motor.
The Girl Aviators on Golden Wings
16
As she was fiddling with the switch, the door closed behind her.
Shadow fall
About this term
Frequent collocations
Fiddling through the time
Fiddling across language varieties
United States of America
Common
United Kingdom
Common