diddle1

[did-l] /ˈdɪd l/
verb (used with object), diddled, diddling.
1.
Informal. to cheat; swindle; hoax.
Origin
1800-10; perhaps special use of diddle2
Related forms
diddler, noun

diddle2

[did-l] /ˈdɪd l/
verb (used without object), diddled, diddling.
1.
Informal. to toy; fool (usually followed by with):
The kids have been diddling with the controls on the television set again.
2.
to waste time; dawdle (often followed by around):
You would be finished by now if you hadn't spent the morning diddling around.
3.
Informal. to move back and forth with short rapid motions.
verb (used with object), diddled, diddling.
4.
Informal. to move back and forth with short rapid motions; jiggle:
Diddle the switch and see if the light comes on.
5.
Slang.
  1. to copulate with.
  2. to practice masturbation upon.
Origin
1800-10; expressive coinage, perhaps orig. in the Siamese twins diddle-diddle, diddle-daddle; cf. dodder1, doodle1
Related forms
diddler, noun
British Dictionary definitions for diddle

diddle1

/ˈdɪdəl/
verb (informal)
1.
(transitive) to cheat or swindle
2.
(intransitive) an obsolete word for dawdle
Derived Forms
diddler, noun
Word Origin
C19: back formation from Jeremy Diddler, a scrounger in J. Kenney's farce Raising the Wind (1803)

diddle2

/ˈdɪdəl/
verb
1.
(dialect) to jerk (an object) up and down or back and forth; shake rapidly
Word Origin
C17: probably variant of doderen to tremble, totter; see dodder1
Word Origin and History for diddle
v.

"to cheat, swindle," 1806, from dialectal duddle, diddle "to totter" (1630s). Meaning "waste time" is recorded from 1825. Meaning "to have sex with" is from 1879; that of "to masturbate" (especially of women) is from 1950s. More or less unrelated meanings that have gathered around a suggestive sound. Related: Diddled; diddling.

Slang definitions & phrases for diddle

diddle

verb
  1. (also diddle around) To waste time; idle; loaf (1825+)
  2. To cheat; swindle; victimize; scam (1806+)
  3. o alter illicitly or illegally; cook, doctor: But I thought Tommy must have diddled the phone records (1980s+)
  4. To do the sex act with or to; screw: Diddle your sister? Circle jerk? (1879+)
  5. (also diddle oneself) To masturbate (1950+)
  6. To insert a finger into a woman's vulva; fingerfuck (1960+)
  7. To correct or adjust a program in various small ways; tweak: I diddled the text editor to ring the bell before it deletes all your files (1980s+ computer)

[cheating sense said to be fr Jeremy Diddler, a character in the 1803 novel Raising the Wind, by James Kenney]


diddle in Technology


1. To work with or modify in a not particularly serious manner. "I diddled a copy of ADVENT so it didn't double-space all the time." "Let's diddle this piece of code and see if the problem goes away."
See tweak and twiddle.
2. The action or result of diddling.
See also tweak, twiddle, frob.
[Jargon File]
(1995-01-31)