verb
diddle
DIH-duhl
verb
1
To cheat or swindle someone, especially out of money.
"The contractor diddled him out of a few hundred pounds."
2
To waste time doing nothing productive; to fiddle around.
"Stop diddling and get the report finished."
How to Use Diddle
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo cheat someone in a small way, or to waste time fooling around instead of working.
When to use it
Informal.
Common pairings
diddle someone out of money
diddle around
Word Forms
diddled past tense, diddles plural, diddles singular
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Etymology
Traces back to dialectal English words for "to trick" and "to totter," possibly reinforced by the swindling character Jeremy Diddler in an early-1800s play.