fiddle with
phrasal verb
fiddled with; fiddling with; fiddles with
1
: to move or handle (something) with the hands or fingers in a nervous way
She was nervously fiddling with her pencil as she waited for the test to start.
2
: to change or handle (something, such as the controls of a machine) in a way that shows one is not sure what to do
He was fiddling with the controls of the television, trying to get it to work.
3
: to change (something) in a harmful or foolish way
It became clear that someone had fiddled with the equipment.
Examples of fiddle with in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors.
—
Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 19 May 2025
Touch controls are intuitive and responsive, making playback a cinch without fiddling with your phone.
—Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Powell heads up the world’s biggest employer of economists, yet underlying his perfectly reasonable disdain for tariffs is an odd notion that the Fed must fiddle with the price of credit as a way of allegedly softening the blow of higher prices borne of tariffs.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
She could be seen in the footage fiddling with her gold chain and talking to the person sitting beside her.
—Latoya Gayle, People.com, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiddle with
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Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 19 May 2025
Touch controls are intuitive and responsive, making playback a cinch without fiddling with your phone.
—Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Powell heads up the world’s biggest employer of economists, yet underlying his perfectly reasonable disdain for tariffs is an odd notion that the Fed must fiddle with the price of credit as a way of allegedly softening the blow of higher prices borne of tariffs.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
She could be seen in the footage fiddling with her gold chain and talking to the person sitting beside her.
—Latoya Gayle, People.com, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiddle with
Cite this Entry
“Fiddle with.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiddle%20with. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
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