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
Cosmo aims to turn time spent doom-scrolling or fiddling with your phone into something more productive.
—
Ray Ravaglia, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Max Weinberg sat at his set, thwacking his floor tom, while Lahav fiddled with his dials, stalked into the studio to unplug, replug, and then just physically move the microphone closer to the set, then to the side, and then farther away.
—Peter Ames Carlin, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
Then, there’s your choice of footwear: This is not the time to fiddle with laces or wrestle with tight boots.
—Sara Coughlin, SELF, 12 Aug. 2025
Conversational interfaces represent the next evolution of vehicle control, allowing drivers to interact with advanced driver-assistance systems—without fiddling with buttons or touchscreens.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiddle with
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Ray Ravaglia, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Max Weinberg sat at his set, thwacking his floor tom, while Lahav fiddled with his dials, stalked into the studio to unplug, replug, and then just physically move the microphone closer to the set, then to the side, and then farther away.
—Peter Ames Carlin, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
Then, there’s your choice of footwear: This is not the time to fiddle with laces or wrestle with tight boots.
—Sara Coughlin, SELF, 12 Aug. 2025
Conversational interfaces represent the next evolution of vehicle control, allowing drivers to interact with advanced driver-assistance systems—without fiddling with buttons or touchscreens.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Aug. 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 30 Aug. 2025.
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