Question of the Day #568

"Trump, Pelosi have chosen to fiddle while economy burns"

From the headline of this article at Gulf Today.

上記の文で、fiddleの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "fiddle" mean?

答えは、コメントに書いてください。
Write your answer in the Comments.

明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

自動詞

1. バイオリンを弾く
2. 時を空費する

他動詞

1. ～をバイオリンで弾く
2. 〔時を〕空費する
3. ～をいじくる、もてあそぶ
4. ～をだます、ごまかす

問題文の場合、「時を空費する」でいいでしょう。

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

Intransitive verb

1. to play on a fiddle
2. 1. to move the hands or fingers restlessly
   2. to spend time in aimless or fruitless activity: PUTTER, TINKER
   3. MEDDLE, TAMPER
   4. to make minor manual movements especially to adjust something

Transitive verb

1. to play (something) on a fiddle
2. CHEAT, SWINDLE
3. to alter or manipulate deceptively for fraudulent gain

Examples

• Put your papers down and stop fiddling with them!
• He stood there fiddling with his keys.
• "He looked at it and he started to fiddle with the cable," Mrs. Perez told The Telegraph. HARRY DANCES WITH CHILEAN CHILDREN|TOM SYKES|JUNE 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
• Harriet fiddled with a pen on the desk.
• She told Whistler that his portrait of her was finished and to stop fiddling with it.

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