diddle
verb (informal)- [transitive] diddle somebody (out of something) (British English)
to get money or some advantage from somebody by cheating them 欺骗；哄骗；骗取 He’s been diddling the taxman for years. 他多年来一直欺骗税务人员。 My old boss diddled me out of over £5 000. 我以前的老板骗走了我5 000多英镑。
- [intransitive] diddle (around) (North American English)
to waste time without having a purpose 欺骗： 浪费时间而没有目的Sometimes I just diddle around all day. 有时我只是整天闲逛。
- [intransitive] diddle (with something) (North American English)
to play with something carelessly or without thinking 骗子： 粗心大意地玩东西He diddled with the graphics on his computer. 他在电脑上摆弄着图形。
Word Originearly 19th cent.: probably from the name of Jeremy Diddler, a character in the farce Raising the Wind (1803) by the Irish dramatist James Kenney (1780–1849). Diddler constantly borrowed and failed to repay small sums of money: the name may be based on an earlier verb diddle ‘walk unsteadily’.