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
Some stuff is obvious: Do not fiddle with a player’s medical records.
—
Andy McCullough, New York Times, 29 July 2025
But cook settings are constrained to a few preset levels (New-York style, thin crust, Neapolitan, frozen), whose temps and cooking times can be a bit fussy to fiddle with.
—Adrienne So, Wired News, 21 July 2025
The photographer fiddles with a series of blinds to adjust the light.
—Anika Burgess
july 17, Literary Hub, 17 July 2025
At the same time, the doctors can fiddle with the amplitude, pulse width, frequency, and shape of the stimulation field.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiddle with
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Andy McCullough, New York Times, 29 July 2025
But cook settings are constrained to a few preset levels (New-York style, thin crust, Neapolitan, frozen), whose temps and cooking times can be a bit fussy to fiddle with.
—Adrienne So, Wired News, 21 July 2025
The photographer fiddles with a series of blinds to adjust the light.
—Anika Burgess
july 17, Literary Hub, 17 July 2025
At the same time, the doctors can fiddle with the amplitude, pulse width, frequency, and shape of the stimulation field.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 June 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 2 Aug. 2025.
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