Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To toddle, as a child in walking; move rapidly up and down, or backward and forward; jog; shake.
  • To cheat; overreach by deception; swindle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb colloq. To cheat or overreach.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To totter, as a child in walking.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun music In percussion, two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL), similar to the drag, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed
  • noun slang, childish The penis.
  • verb transitive to cheat; to swindle
  • verb transitive to have sex with
  • verb transitive to masturbate (especially of women)
  • verb transitive to waste time

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb deprive of by deceit
  • verb manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From dialectal duddle, "to trick" (16th century), "to totter" (17th century); perhaps influenced by the name (which itself was probably chosen as an allusion to duddle) of the swindling character Jeremy Diddler in Kenney's Raising the Wind (1803). Meaning "to have sex with" is from the 19th century, "to masturbate" is 1950's.

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Examples

  • Politicians who "diddle" with the plumbing that allows them to stay in office have no real respect for the institution or those who unwittingly support them.

    You and Whose Army? « Antiwar.com Blog 2009

  • Thirteen years ago, as he was retiring from the Senate, Wyoming sage Alan Simpson told reporters he was weary of the blinders worn by members of both parties, ashamed to sit in meetings where Topics A, B and C were how to "diddle" a political rival.

    Is partisanship really the problem? 2010

  • They did not know what enterprise he was about to join in; but they heard that I had some share in it, and they did not scruple to hint that I might be an adventurer, who would 'diddle' him out of his money.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 40, February, 1861 Various

  • When you "diddle" with the handgun, it WILL go off, plain and simple.

    KSL / U.S. / National 2009

  • In addition, several of the reviewers felt that the word 'diddle' was inappropriate, and should have been replaced by the more scientifically correct, 'Hey fornicate fornicate. "

    The Science Creative Quarterly davidng 2009

  • This artsy party will also play host to a diddle on the decks from Stopmakingme as well as a visit from techno type Matias Aguayo's live project Coméme, plus a show from synth-soul duo Hundred In The Hands, who'll be stopping by as part of their European tour.

    Clubs picks of the week 2011

  • Hey Monday Homecoming Autographed 8×10 Photo hey diddle, diddle ceramic photo frame

    Hey Photo | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • You chump you went to diddle your girlfriend, what MAN wouldn't.

    Sanford: Now I know what Palin felt like 2009

  • I haven't met the shooter yet who can diddle with that selector when the rooster flushes.

    One Trigger, Or Two? 2009

  • I haven't met the shooter yet who can diddle with that selector when the rooster flushes.

    One Trigger, Or Two? 2009

Comments

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  • "You'll need to rise precious early, you sinner there, if you want to diddle the Almighty God."

    Joyce, Ulysses, 14

    January 27, 2007

  • Citation on pleasure-nodule.

    March 26, 2012