diddles

verb

present tense third-person singular of diddle
1
as in pokes
to move or act slowly even though the hurricane was fast approaching, federal and local politicians wasted precious time diddling

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in plucks
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 & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for diddles
  1. pokes
  2. plucks
  3. lingers
  4. squeezes
  5. drags
  6. cheats
  7. crawls
  8. hustles
Verb
  • Adults’s Gen-Z characters tend to see their comforts as transient, their identities as mutable, and seriousness as an annoying obligation, all of which the second season pokes at a bit.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Even in the bathrooms, the toilet and bidet are concealed inside a kind of Travertine bench and the showerhead pokes out from a monolithic stone slab.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of pokes
Verb
  • His torso and thighs grow eye-poppingly muscular beneath their skimpy fur-and-leather togs—a development that does not go unnoticed by a warrior named Red Hair, who plucks the young hunk from his post and tosses him into the prime time of the gladiator pit.
    — Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
  • But the emotional gravity of this offering's deeply personal, melancholic lyrical content plucks an undeniably profound chord that uniquely separates it from the rest of his work.
    — Chris Barilla, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
Definition of plucks
Verb
  • Inside Fort Worth's Cowboy Coliseum, a historic 1908 indoor rodeo venue in the heart of the city's famous Stockyards, the gunpowdery smell of pyrotechnics lingers in the air.
    — Christine Lennon, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Sorsby eventually withdrew from college and gave up the fight, but the lawsuit lingers on — triggered by a state court order that had temporarily allowed Sorsby to play despite the NCAA longtime ban of players who gamble.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of lingers
Verb
  • That obviously makes Labor Day a particularly good excuse to mix a cocktail that squeezes a little more out of summer.
    — Emily Price, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • After leaving Vancouver, the route follows the Fraser River through the fertile Fraser Valley and into the Coast Mountains, passing Hell’s Gate, where the river squeezes through a narrow canyon, before arriving in Kamloops for the night.
    — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeezes
Verb
  • Burkhart added that if the trade war drags on, businesses will face far greater risks and consumers — already facing difficulties keeping up with inflation and higher fuel prices — will face a greater challenge with the cost of living.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The move drags romance into spaces once reserved for a workout or a self-care Sunday.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of drags
Verb
  • Any forward who cheats for defence, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has for much of his career, will play an elevated role on a Babcock team.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • Though Lesnar rarely cheats to win, Femi isn’t going to lose clean.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
Definition of cheats
Verb
  • Hairy-nosed wombat births are hard to spot, as after about a 30-day pregnancy, the joey crawls into its mother’s pouch.
    — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Researchers have developed a new control framework that enables humanoid robots to perform agile movements, including army crawls, breakdancing and backflips.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawls
Verb
  • Jessica Gonzalez hustles behind her booth at the recent Renegade Craft Fair, frantically ringing up sales, answering questions and packaging her beeswax candles.
    — Lisa Boone, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Despite concerns that chip stocks could be topping out as the industry hustles to boost supply, Wall Street thinks Micron still has plenty of room to run.
    — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 22 June 2026
Definition of hustles
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

diddled (with)
diddles
diddles (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Diddles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diddles. Accessed 8 Sep. 2026.

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