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
So why did baseball just spend spring training fiddling with a system that will not be used in a single regular-season game this year?
—
Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Some folks in the audience couldn't keep up and started fiddling with their phones.
—Karl Freund, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025
Since purchasing the landmark in 2021, the couple had fiddled with its restaurant lineup, which included a deli when Helene barged into Burnsville.
—Hanna Raskin, Southern Living, 20 Mar. 2025
For further confirmation, the gold-to-CPI-Alt ratio (which calculates CPI using its 1982 methodology, before the government started fiddling with it) sits at just 0.9 – far below its historical average of 2.6.
—Bob Haber, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiddle with
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Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Some folks in the audience couldn't keep up and started fiddling with their phones.
—Karl Freund, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025
Since purchasing the landmark in 2021, the couple had fiddled with its restaurant lineup, which included a deli when Helene barged into Burnsville.
—Hanna Raskin, Southern Living, 20 Mar. 2025
For further confirmation, the gold-to-CPI-Alt ratio (which calculates CPI using its 1982 methodology, before the government started fiddling with it) sits at just 0.9 – far below its historical average of 2.6.
—Bob Haber, Forbes, 19 Mar. 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 21 Apr. 2025.
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