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Fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres including classical music. Although violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a “brighter” tone, compared to the deeper tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught ‘by ear’ rather than via written music.Fiddling is the act of playing the fiddle, and fiddlers are musicians that play it. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to produce rhythms that focus on dancing, with associated quick note changes, whereas classical music tends to contain more vibrato and sustained notes. Fiddling is also open to improvisation and embellishment with ornamentation at the player’s discretion—in contrast to orchestral performances, which adhere to the composer’s notes to reproduce a work faithfully. It is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music, but today, many fiddlers (e.g., Alasdair Fraser, Brittany Haas, Alison Krauss, etc.) have classical training.
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Fiddle (noun)
Any of various bowed string instruments, often a violin when played in any of various traditional styles, as opposed to classical violin.
“When I play it like this, it’s a fiddle; when I play it like that, it’s a violin.”
“violin”
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Fiddle (noun)
A kind of leaves shaped like the musical instrument.
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Fiddle (noun)
An adjustment intended to cover up a basic flaw.
“That parameter setting is just a fiddle to make the lighting look right.”
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Fiddle (noun)
A fraud; a scam.
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Fiddle (noun)
On board a ship or boat, a rail or batten around the edge of a table or stove to prevent objects falling off at sea. (Also fiddle rail)
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Fiddle (verb)
To play aimlessly.
“You’re fiddling your life away.”
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Fiddle (verb)
To adjust or manipulate for deception or fraud.
“I needed to fiddle the lighting parameters to get the image to look right.”
“Fred was sacked when the auditors caught him fiddling the books.”
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Fiddle (verb)
To play traditional tunes on a violin in a non-classical style.
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Fiddle (verb)
To touch or fidget with something in a restless or nervous way, or tinker with something in an attempt to make minor adjustments or improvements.
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Piddle (noun)
Piss: urine.
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Piddle (noun)
A piss: an act of urination.
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Piddle (noun)
Nonsense or a trivial matter.
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Piddle (verb)
Often followed by about or around: to act or work ineffectually and wastefully.
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Piddle (verb)
: to attack or eat with a beak.
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Piddle (verb)
: to pick at or toy with one’s food, to eat slowly or insubstantially.
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Piddle (verb)
To urinate.