| verb | avoid (one's assigned duties) “The derelict soldier shirked his duties” |
| verb | commit fraud and steal from one's employer “We found out that she had been fiddling for years” |
| verb | play the violin or fiddle |
| verb | play on a violin “Zuckerman fiddled that song very nicely” |
| verb | manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination “She played nervously with her wedding ring” |
| verb | play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly “Someone tampered with the documents on my desk” |
| verb | try to fix or mend “Can you tinker with the T.V. set--it's not working right” |
| adjective | (informal) small and of little importance “a fiddling sum of money” |
| shirker | noun | a person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime) |
| shirking | noun | the evasion of work or duty |
| goldbricking | noun | the evasion of work or duty |
| fiddle | noun | bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow |
| fiddler | noun | a musician who plays the violin |
| monkey | noun | one who is playfully mischievous |
| littleness | noun | lack of generosity in trifling matters |
| pettiness | noun | lack of generosity in trifling matters |
| trivialize | verb | make trivial or insignificant |
| trivia | noun | something of small importance |
| triviality | noun | the quality of being unimportant and petty or frivolous |