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.
fiddling
adj : (informal terms) small and of little importance; "a fiddling
sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are
lilliputian compared with those of countries that are
at war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "Mickey Mouse
regulations"; "a dispute over niggling details";
"limited to petty enterprises"; "piffling efforts";
"giving a police officer a free meal may be against the
law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction" [syn: footling,
lilliputian, little, Mickey Mouse, niggling, piddling,
piffling, petty, picayune, trivial]