diddle

(redirected from diddled)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

did·dle 1

 (dĭd′l)
tr.v. did·dled, did·dling, did·dles
Slang To cheat; swindle: "The Swiss have special laws for people who diddle hotels" (John le Carré).
[Perhaps akin to Old English dydrian, to deceive, or from variant of dialectal doodle, fool, simpleton; akin to Low German dudeldopp.]
did′dler n.

did·dle 2

 (dĭd′l)
v. did·dled, did·dling, did·dles
v.tr.
1. To jerk up and down or back and forth.
2. Vulgar Slang
a. To have intercourse with (a woman).
b. To practice masturbation upon.
v.intr.
1. To shake rapidly; jiggle.
2. Slang To play experimentally; toy: The children diddled with the knobs on the television all afternoon.
3. Slang To waste time: diddled around all morning.
[Probably alteration of dialectal didder, to quiver, tremble, from Middle English dideren, variant of daderen, doderen; see dodder1.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

diddle

(ˈdɪdəl)
vb
1. (tr) to cheat or swindle
2. (intr) an obsolete word for dawdle
[C19: back formation from Jeremy Diddler, a scrounger in J. Kenney's farce Raising the Wind (1803)]
ˈdiddler n

diddle

(ˈdɪdəl)
vb
dialect to jerk (an object) up and down or back and forth; shake rapidly
[C17: probably variant of doderen to tremble, totter; see dodder1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

did•dle1

(ˈdɪd l)

v.t. -dled, -dling.
Informal. to cheat; swindle.
[1800–10; of uncertain orig.]
did′dler, n.

did•dle2

(ˈdɪd l)

v. -dled, -dling. v.i. Informal.
1. to toy; fool: diddling with the controls.
2. to waste time (often fol. by around).
3. to move back and forth with short rapid motions.
v.t.
4. Dial. to move back and forth rapidly; jiggle.
[1780–90; expressive coinage, compare dodder1, doodle]
did′dler, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

diddle


Past participle: diddled
Gerund: diddling

Imperative
diddle
diddle
Present
I diddle
you diddle
he/she/it diddles
we diddle
you diddle
they diddle
Preterite
I diddled
you diddled
he/she/it diddled
we diddled
you diddled
they diddled
Present Continuous
I am diddling
you are diddling
he/she/it is diddling
we are diddling
you are diddling
they are diddling
Present Perfect
I have diddled
you have diddled
he/she/it has diddled
we have diddled
you have diddled
they have diddled
Past Continuous
I was diddling
you were diddling
he/she/it was diddling
we were diddling
you were diddling
they were diddling
Past Perfect
I had diddled
you had diddled
he/she/it had diddled
we had diddled
you had diddled
they had diddled
Future
I will diddle
you will diddle
he/she/it will diddle
we will diddle
you will diddle
they will diddle
Future Perfect
I will have diddled
you will have diddled
he/she/it will have diddled
we will have diddled
you will have diddled
they will have diddled
Future Continuous
I will be diddling
you will be diddling
he/she/it will be diddling
we will be diddling
you will be diddling
they will be diddling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been diddling
you have been diddling
he/she/it has been diddling
we have been diddling
you have been diddling
they have been diddling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been diddling
you will have been diddling
he/she/it will have been diddling
we will have been diddling
you will have been diddling
they will have been diddling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been diddling
you had been diddling
he/she/it had been diddling
we had been diddling
you had been diddling
they had been diddling
Conditional
I would diddle
you would diddle
he/she/it would diddle
we would diddle
you would diddle
they would diddle
Past Conditional
I would have diddled
you would have diddled
he/she/it would have diddled
we would have diddled
you would have diddled
they would have diddled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.diddle - deprive of by deceitdiddle - deprive of by deceit; "He swindled me out of my inheritance"; "She defrauded the customers who trusted her"; "the cashier gypped me when he gave me too little change"
bunco, con, defraud, goldbrick, hornswoggle, mulct, nobble, rook, scam, swindle, short-change, victimize
short, short-change - cheat someone by not returning him enough money
cheat, rip off, chisel - deprive somebody of something by deceit; "The con-man beat me out of $50"; "This salesman ripped us off!"; "we were cheated by their clever-sounding scheme"; "They chiseled me out of my money"
2.diddle - manipulate manually or in one's mind or imaginationdiddle - manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination; "She played nervously with her wedding ring"; "Don't fiddle with the screws"; "He played with the idea of running for the Senate"
toy, fiddle, play
manipulate - hold something in one's hands and move it
put out, retire - cause to be out on a fielding play
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

diddle 1

verb
Slang. To get money or something else from by deceitful trickery:
bilk, cheat, cozen, defraud, gull, mulct, rook, swindle, victimize.
Informal: chisel, flimflam, take, trim.
Slang: do, gyp, stick, sting.

diddle 2

verb
Slang. To pass time without working or in avoiding work:
bum (around), idle, laze, loaf, loiter, lounge, shirk.
Slang: goldbrick, goof (off).
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
Spanish / Español
Select a language:
übers Ohr hauen

diddle

[ˈdɪdl] VT → estafar, timar
to diddle sb out of sth → estafar algo a algn
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

diddle

[ˈdɪdəl]
vt (mainly British) (= con) → rouler
vi (US) to diddle with sth (= fiddle) → tripatouiller qch
to diddle around (= waste time) → traînasser
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

diddle

vt (Brit inf) → übers Ohr hauen (inf), → beschummeln; you have been diddled → man hat Sie übers Ohr gehauen; to diddle somebody out of something → jdm etw abgaunern (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

diddle

[ˈdɪdl] vt (fam) → infinocchiare
to diddle sb out of sth → fregare qc a qn
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
Why, let me see; yes, you may as well tell him now that -- that --in fact, tell him I've diddled him, and (aside to himself) perhaps somebody else.
View in context
Yesterday, I received my equal pay settlement (10 years on and a fraction of what they diddled from their female employees).
Making us pay; Letters.
But if you diddled the dole or failed to pay your tax they'd come after you even if it was 10 years ago.
THE tracker mortgage scandal []
While global football waits to see how FIFA and the game emerges post-Blatter, the Chelsea manager was more concerned that he might have been diddled out of the 2012 FIFA coach of the year award - won by then Spanish boss Vicente Del Bosque who, after all, had merely guided his country to World Cup and European Championship success.
Call me Meester
Meanwhile, David and Alicia are dodging flying crockery when Leyla finds out she's been diddled out of a PS70,000 inheritance.
WE LOVE SOAPS
And, while he's fiddled and diddled with the idea of running for N.H.'s Senate seat against Dem Jeanne Shaheen, he's also fiddled and diddled with the idea of running for president (hence the additional visits to Iowa).
Selling points
So if people are thinking 'They diddled us, it wasn't the same penguin all the way through' -they are right" - Broadcaster Sir David Attenborough on tricks used in wildlife TV documentaries.
"TODAY'S QUOTES"
So if people are thinking 'They diddled us, it wasn't the same penguin all the way through' - they are right"Broadcaster Sir David Attenborough on tricks used in wildlife TV documentaries
THEY SAID WHAT?
The 29-year-old, who is infamous for bedding footballer Ryan Giggs, seems to have realised that everyone is talking about the book which claims Simon Cowell diddled with Dannii Minogue and had sex dreams about Cheryl and thought, 'I'm going to get me a bit of that, I am'.
Imogen climbs aboard Simon Cowell's publicity machine for attention

Dictionary browser ?
Full browser ?