Definition of "diddle" [did•dle]

• Slang To cheat; swindle: "The Swiss have special laws for people who diddle hotels” ( John le Carré). (verb-transitive)
• To jerk up and down or back and forth. (verb-transitive)
• Vulgar Slang To have intercourse with (a woman). (verb-transitive)
• Vulgar Slang To practice masturbation upon. (verb-transitive)
• To shake rapidly; jiggle. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thirteen years ago, as he was retiring from the Senate, Wyoming sage Alan Simpson told reporters he was weary of the blinders worn by members of both parties, ashamed to sit in meetings where Topics A, B and C were how to "diddle" a political rival."
• "Politicians who "diddle" with the plumbing that allows them to stay in office have no real respect for the institution or those who unwittingly support them."
• "They did not know what enterprise he was about to join in; but they heard that I had some share in it, and they did not scruple to hint that I might be an adventurer, who would 'diddle' him out of his money."