fiddle around


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Related to fiddle around: fiddle away

fiddle around

1. To play with or idly handle (something); to tinker (with something), especially ineptly or improperly. John, would you quit fiddling around with the engine and bring the car to a shop already? Mary, stop fiddling around with hem of your dress and sit still!
2. To engage in aimless recreation or frivolous time-wasting with someone or something. Quit fiddling around and work on your book report already!
3. To annoy or irritate someone, often by wasting their time. Quit fiddling around with me and give my book back, will you?
See also: around, fiddle

fiddle around (with something)

 and fiddle about (with something)
to play with something; to tinker with something ineptly. My brother is outside fiddling around with his car engine. He should stop fiddling around and go out and get a job.
See also: around, fiddle

fiddle around

(with someone) and fiddle about (with someone) to tease, annoy, or play with someone; to waste someone's time. All right, stop fiddling around with me and tell me how much you will give me for my car. Now it's time for all of you to quit fiddling around and get to work. Tom, you have to stop spending your time fiddling about with your friends. It's time to get serious with your studies.
See also: around, fiddle

fiddle around

v.
To act foolishly, playfully, or without a clear sense of purpose: If you don't stop fiddling around and start working, we'll never get home.
See also: around, fiddle
References in periodicals archive ?
Of course for everyday use, this might be annoying because someone might innocently fiddle around with the device and accidentally erase all the files.
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The existing multi-tier tax structure on tobacco applies different tax rates on cigarettes based on their retail prices that allow tobacco industry to fiddle around and pay minimum possible taxes to the government while garnering larger profit at the cost of smoker's health.
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Drilon stressed that the country's sovereignty was not something we should fiddle around with.
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WEATHER @SianWeather: Ok, weather gods,you''ve had your fun.Now flap off & fiddle around with some other folk.And take that Beast from the East with u #weatheredout @bbcweather: Typically in March daytime temps across the UK range from 5 to 15C.
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After all, many people jump in their cars and hop off to the big shopping centres that surround us like White Rose near Leeds and Sheffield's Meadowhall rather than go down to Huddersfield town centre and fiddle around looking for change to pay at the parking meter.
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The unionists in Westminster and the Assembly will just fiddle around, and procrastinate wherever possibly, and if they get round to maKing any decision, it will be to their own advantage, not Wales'.
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Men were fed in a reasonable manner and cooks had to do a job and make ends meet and they didn't fiddle around with two eggs and two ounces of flour and a pinch of salt.
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I don't have the time to fiddle around with spreadsheets and accountants charge a fortune to process the paperwork; he continued.
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The former Take That star was so moved by the King of Pop's death that he decided to fiddle around with the tracklisting and add the new song.
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It contains worldwide Group winners and placed runners and allows you to fiddle around with different pedigrees and see what works.
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Record your voice and then fiddle around with the pitch, tone, and speed to create some bizarre versions of your voice.
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Both are decent and very able machines, and will ferry your brood about in comfort, but you'll need to fiddle around with different baby seat makes and combos to get three across the rear.
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But now he wants me to go on the Pill as he say he doesn't want to fiddle around with condoms again.
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The Z-1000's buttons are placed logically so you won't have to fiddle around much when navigating the camera's on-board interface.
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These days you have to fiddle around with ports, wires and have a solid understanding of computer programming before anything works.
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