fiddling

fiddling
    adj 1: (informal) small and of little importance; "a fiddling
           sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are
           lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at
           war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "a dispute over
           niggling details"; "limited to petty enterprises";
           "piffling efforts"; "giving a police officer a free meal
           may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune
           infraction" [syn: {fiddling}, {footling}, {lilliputian},
           {little}, {niggling}, {piddling}, {piffling}, {petty},
           {picayune}, {trivial}]
    

Fiddle \Fid"dle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fiddled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Fiddling}.]
   1. To play on a fiddle.
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            Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he
            could make a small town a great city. --Bacon.
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   2. To keep the hands and fingers actively moving as a fiddler
      does; to move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy
      idleness; to trifle.
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            Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers.
                                                  --Pepys.
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