diddle

1 to move or act slowly even though the hurricane was fast approaching, federal and local polticians wasted precious time diddling Synonyms crawl, creep, dally, dawdle, delay, dillydally, drag, lag, linger, loiter, lollygag (also lallygag), mope, poke, shilly-shally, tarryRelated Words fiddle (around), fool around, mess around, monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle; hang (around or out), idle, loaf, loll, lounge; amble, ease, inch, lumber, plod, saunter, shuffle, stagger, stroll; decelerate, slow (down or up); filibuster, procrastinate, stall, temporizeNear Antonyms bowl, breeze, dart, hump, hurtle, hustle, scramble, stampede; gallop, jog, run, sprint, trot; accelerate, quicken, speed (up); catch up, fast-forward, outpace, outrun, outstrip, overtakeAntonyms barrel, bolt, career, course, dash, fly, hasten, hotfoot (it), hurry, race, rip, rocket, run, rush, scoot, scud, scurry, speed, tear, whirl, whisk, whiz (or whizz), zip

2 to rob by the use of trickery or threats an unscrupulous Broadway producer diddles little old ladies by persuading them to invest in a surefire flop Synonyms beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, chouse, con, cozen, defraud, fleece, do, do in, euchre, fiddle, flimflam, gaff, gyp, hose [slang], hustle, mulct, nobble [British slang], pluck, ream, rip off, rook, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, skunk, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, sucker, swindle, thimblerig, victimizeRelated Words extort, wrench, wrest, wring; clip, gouge, nick, overcharge, soak; exploit, milk; deceive, dupe, fool, gull, trick; rope (in); betray, bitch, double-cross; bamboozle, fast-talk