Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FID'DLE, v.i.

1. To play on a fiddle or violin. Themistocles said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon. It is said that Nero fiddled when Rome was In flames. History.
2. To trifle; to shift the hands often and do nothing, like a fellow that plays on a fiddle. Good cooks can not abide what they call fiddling work. Swift.